Eye of the Hurricane
by InnerSanctumFish
Summary: Following the story of Commander Louis Shepard after the events of Mass Effect 2. The story will focus on the time in between the destruction of the Alpha Relay and the impending invasion of the Reapers.
1. Chapter 1

**Well this is my first story so please try to bare with me. A big thanks to the people who gave me the little push that I needed to start as well as the many author's who have inspired me to a great degree!**

Chapter One

It had been exactly one month since the team had taken on the Collectors at their base in another life or death showdown. The whole team had performed flawlessly and had even managed to rescue the abducted crew of the Normandy. No casualties. The only troubling issue lingering from the mission was how they would deal with Cerberus since the Commander refused to give the base to the Illusive Man, however with the help of EDI they managed to funnel a significant portion of Cerberus funds that should set them back for some time.

Two weeks after the destruction of the Collector base Shepard had teamed up with Liara T'soni against the Shadow Broker to save Ferron, a friend who had helped Liara in recovering the Commander's body after his death. When the giant yahg who had impersonated the original Shadow Broker was killed, Liara had assumed the position and had promised to pass along any information and help she could against the struggle against the Reapers; a race of sentient machines that harvested the galaxy of its organic life every 50,000 years.

Four days after that Shepard had went on a solo mission to rescue Dr. Amanda Kenson, who had claimed that she had evidence of the Reaper invasion. When she was rescued she assured the Commander that her evidence was absolute. Indeed her evidence did indicate that the Reapers would soon reach the galaxy, the evidence was a Reaper artifact simply dubbed Object Rho. However before the Commander could leave to send his confirmation to Admiral Hackett, the "Project" personnel under Kenson who had been indoctrinated by the artifact had attacked the Commander and had him sedated. Shepard managed to fight his way out of the asteroid base after he activated the "Project" a head on collision of the asteroid in to the Mass Relay in an attempt to slow the Reapers down. While escaping Kenson committed suicide in an attempt to stop the asteroid. Shepard attempted to talk her down but Kenson refused to listen to reason, proving that she had been indoctrinated for some time. As soon as the Normandy made the jump from the system, the asteroid struck the relay causing an equivalent to a supernova. Although the Commander had warned the batarians living in the system to evacuate, none of them had managed to escape the cataclysmic destruction. Hackett had personally debriefed the Commander and informed him that the batarians would want some form of retribution, possibly war. Shepard agreed to stand trial back on Earth for his actions but he knew that it had to be done. If there had been another way he would have done it but he knew he had blood on his hands.

* * *

><p>Shepard woke from his restful sleep in the Captain's Quarters. He glanced at the holographic display of his clock. It was only 3:00 AM he thought. The lights in the cabin had been dimmed so that the only real source of light came from the stars and the fish tanks. He glanced down to see his beautiful quarian lover sleeping. He smiled, remembering the night they had shared together only a few hours ago. Tali had come a long way since they had first met each other. She had gone from a young, curious, and energetic girl to a beautiful, passionate woman. Although she was still extremely shy, and often nervous she had become more confident in her actions. <em>'I must have rubbed off on her a lot more than I thought'<em> Shepard mused to himself. Tali's shallow breathing quickened a sign that she was going to wake soon. Shepard slowly slid Tali's hand off of his bare chest and slowly sat up.

"Shepard? Why are you up so early?" Tali whispered in a sleep smeared voice.

"I was just thinking…" Shepard trailed off.

"Are you worried about your trial again?" Tali said as she sat up next to her human lover.

Shepard didn't reply but instead stared at the fish tank with a vacant look in his sharp brown eyes. Tali covered herself with the silk bed sheets as she leaned her head on his shoulder and nuzzled his neck, enjoying the warmth. Her hand reached down to grasp his rough but gentle hands. Shepard turned to look into her eyes with a faint smile on his face.

"You know I'm not worried about that." He said gently becoming lost in Tali's luminescent silver eyes.

"Then what are you thinking about so hard this early?" Tali spoke with a hint of concern in her voice.

Shepard smiled again, _'Always so selfless'_ he thought.

"Well I was just thinking about how _perfect you were Ms. Vas Normandy._" Shepard grinned.

Tali giggled, a sound he had come to absolutely adore.

"You know I'm not perfect Shepard." She purred.

"Oh I beg to disagree." Shepard replied with a sly grin.

Tali giggled again and pushed the Commander back down on to the bed with her on top. They locked their lips together. The two continued thus for several minutes only stopping for breath. She pulled away reluctantly and laid her head on his chest listening to the beat of her commander's heart. She felt his hand slide across her sensitive body, each touch causing her to moan. Tali briefly considered starting another "session" with Shepard, it was still early and there was no assignment the team needed to accomplish. She moaned again as Shepard's hands continued to cause her pure ecstasy. She pushed her hips against his hard body as she placed both of her hands on his shoulders.

_'I think Shepard wouldn't mind if we were to go again'_, she giggled at the thought.

"Shepa-" She started but was suddenly cut off.

"ETA 40 minutes to the Citadel, Commander. Might wanna come down here to _enjoy the view._" Joker said in his usual sarcastic voice.

Tali groaned and much to her amusement so did Shepard.

"Duty calls." Shepard said with a shrug.

**Well that's the first chapter. The series will maintain a focus on the Commander and Tali, the other characters will be introduced throughout the course of the next few chapters. Positive and negative (Constructive criticism please) reviews are appreciated I really enjoy feedback that can possibly improve my work. (Yes I know I'm a huge fan of Tali :P)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well before we start the next chapter I would like to thank those who have read and reviewed the previous chapter. I have been quite busy as of late with my job, studies, ect, and so I have been working on this chapter on and off in my spare time. So without further ado here is the next chapter. Enjoy!**

Chapter Two

The Normandy banked expertly to avoid an incoming turian frigate on patrol as it began its approach to the Citadel. Jeff "Joker" Moreau grinned to himself as he proceeded to show off his skills as he passed other ships that were gliding in and around the space of the Citadel. The sound of approaching footsteps drew his attention. "Bout time you showed up Commander, I was beginning to worry that you were ignoring me now." Joker smirked as he turned to look up at his Commander. Shepard's only response to the sarcastic comment was a sharp nod. He knew Joker didn't really mean it.

"Bring us into dock Joker, nice and easy." Shepard said as he took in the view. He could never get use to seeing the Citadel. The sheer size of it instantly made his mind rebel against the idea of something that big, but his eyes did not deceive him. He watched as Joker's hands flew across the holographic display like a blur as they approached the station. The Normandy slowly pulled into the docking cradle and settled as the docking locks moved into place. "I believe that I deserve a compliment Shepard." Joker grinned as his seat spun around to face the Commander.

"A compliment on something so routine Joker? I thought you had higher standards than that." Shepard replied as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Ahhh come on! We haven't done anything crazy for a while. I'm just getting bored is all." Joker responded.

Shepard was about to speak when E.D.I's voice chimed in, "Jeff, Dr. Chakwas would like to see you in the med-bay for your physical examination."

"Well looks like the good doctor will be more than happy to compliment you Joker." Shepard grinned as he made his way towards the air lock.

* * *

><p>Shepard stepped out onto the catwalk connecting to the Normandy. He took a deep breath and let out a sigh as he thought about attending his meeting with the council. However before he could make it halfway across several individuals approached him, judging by the uniform that the group sported they were part of C-Sec.<p>

"Commander Shepard?" A tall turian with orange markings on his mandibles asked as he stepped away from the group.

"Yeah that's me. I wasn't expecting a welcoming committee."

The turian chuckled, "Pleasure to meet you Commander, I am Lieutenant Ertan Zulan and I was ordered to have you stay on your ship."

Shepard slowly narrowed his eyes as he glared at Ertan. To his credit the turian hardly flinched at the piercing stare. Surely there has been some sort of mistake, the council had requested his presence and he was sure that it was some sort of mix up.

"May I ask why that I was requested to stay aboard my ship?" Shepard growled.

"Councilor Sparatus has ordered that your ship must be thoroughly examined for any sign of anything the council deems dangerous." The turian stated in a matter of factly tone.

"And if I were to refuse?" Shepard challenged.

"Then you would have to be detained on the charge of impeding an ongoing investigation." Ertan answered with a turian equivalent of a human smirk.

Shepard scowled. He had known this would happen eventually. The council still did not fully trust him because of his association with Cerberus. He had at least thought that Anderson would have been able to explain the situation to the rest of the council that it was out of his hands but it seemed it didn't work. He would have to resolve this issue when he could meet with the council. He looked back at the C-Sec personnel that had been sent to conduct their inspection. All of them except Ertan looked at each other nervously; they all knew who they were dealing with.

"Well if it will allay their fears than I will cooperate." Shepard sighed.

Ertan looked relieved and relaxed a bit. It was obvious that he thought the Commander would refuse. Given his status and record, he didn't blame him. "Thank you Commander, we will notify you when we have completed our inspection.

* * *

><p>Back on the Normandy, Shepard sat in the mess hall still wearing his armor and thought about what course of action he ought to take. He could have obviously have used his spectre status but he knew that Ertan was only doing his job. Still he did not like the idea that despite everything he has done for the council they still had not trusted him because of his involvement with Cerberus. To be honest he was just sick of it. So engrossed in his thoughts he did not notice Garrus sit down across from him.<p>

"Shepard, you alright?" Garrus asked as he set his data pad down.

"Yeah. I'm feeling just great right about now." Shepard snorted.

"I thought you were going to the Citadel today. What are you doing back here so soon?"

"The council thinks that I'm still working with Cerberus, so they decided to have the Normandy inspected before they let anyone off of the ship."

"Well to be honest I can understand why they would do that." Garrus replied as he leaned back in his seat.

"Well you're real helpful." Shepard rolled his eyes.

"You know me. Always there to help when the great Commander Shepard when he's dealing with all sorts of bureaucratic crap." Garrus laughed.

Growing serious again Garrus leaned forward, "You know since they still think that we're working with Cerberus we should use the time to prove to them that we aren't."

"Any suggestions then?"

"Well we could start by at least removing all of the Cerberus emblems on this ship."

"Point taken. That said I have an idea." Without missing a beat, Shepard was up and moving towards a nearby holo pad. As if sensing his need E.D.I. appeared.

"EDI, have the crew meet in the mess hall. There's something I need to address immediately."

"Done. Both essential and non-essential crew has been notified." The A.I. responded as if it had anticipated his decision.

"Thanks EDI, that's all for now." Shepard stepped away from the holopad as EDI logged him out.

Becoming somewhat impatient Shepard began to pace back and forth. He continued formulating a plan in his mind. It would definitely take time but he was going to make sure it was time well spent.

The room began to fill as the crew slowly arrived. The crew that was already on deck had already taken their seats and was talking amongst themselves as they waited for the rest of the crew. Thane and Kasumi approached and gave a nod when they saw Shepard. Samara stood nearby, her face expressionless as her eyes slowly scanned one person to the next. Legion stood motionless off to the side seeming out of place. Miranda walked out of her office and greeted Shepard as she walked by. Joker was already present along with Dr. Chakwas.

Jacob and Mordin arrived next, although Mordin looked somewhat flustered probably because he was called away from one of his experiments. Grunt, Jack, and Zaeed came in next followed by Kenneth, Gabby, and Tali. As soon as she saw Shepard she smiled and bumped into the Commander supposedly on accident before sitting next to Kasumi.

Shepard stopped pacing and turned to face his crew. "Thank you for coming on such short notice everyone. Many of you are probably wondering why I called this meeting. As you all obviously know since we stopped working with Cerberus we have not been able to make adequate repairs to the Normandy. Even though we will now be funded by the council they still do not trust me and by extension all of you especially those of you who were with Cerberus." Shepard paused as he nodded towards some of the crew, "Therefore I want us to all take this moment to help make this ship ours, something better than a symbol of distrust."

Shepard pointed at Gabby and Jack, "I would like the two of you to come up with a new uniform for the crew. Keep it to military standards but I want Jack to make sure it's a bit rebellious but nothing over the top." Gabby nodded excitedly while Jack gave a devious grin already knowing what she had in mind for the new uniform.

"Kenneth I want this ship to be a force to be reckoned with so feel free to get any parts you think will accomplish that."

The good natured engineer saluted and had already begun to consult his omni-tool for the parts he was searching for.

"Garrus, Grunt, and Zaeed I want the three of you to look for the best weapons and armor available as soon as we get onto the Citadel." Garrus and Zaeed nodded and Grunt slammed both of his fists together no doubt planning on trying to getting the biggest gun available.

"Thane, I want you and Jacob to start up a program to help the non-combat crew become more accustomed to fighting should the need arise. We have to be ready for anything. Miranda, I want you to organize everything and make sure everyone gets what they need and make sure all of the Cerberus logos are removed immediately. Mordin see if you can come up with some new tech to help us out, Legion assist the professor with his work."

"E.D.I and Joker figure out a way to keep Cerberus from tracking us make sure all of the bugs are taken care of before we leave the Citadel. Kelly, take Kasumi and Gardner to the Citadel to get us enough supplies for about four to six months just in case."

The crew began to slowly leave as they all received their tasks. All of them seemed quite happy with their opportunity to do what they can to help improve the Normandy. Shepard sighed as he sat down. He hoped his plan would work in helping the council see that he owed no allegiance to the Illusive man.

"Shepard?" A voice he had come to love disrupted his thoughts.

Shepard looked up to see Tali sitting next to him. Although he could not see her expression clearly, he knew she was smiling.

"I never will know how you always manage to get everyone to work together so well without any of them arguing." Tali whispered as she placed her hand on his.

"It's not easy, I'll tell you that much." Shepard replied just as quiet.

"I should get back to work. Let me know if you need anything Shepard." Tali spoke as she stood to leave.

Before she took a step however she felt Shepard's hand on her shoulder. Puzzled yet curious she turned to look at the Commander.

"There is something that I need help with actually." Shepard smiled.

"What would that be then?" Tali asked.

"Well seeing as that the two of us are going to be together now I thought that it would be best if the two of us went out to make several purchases that would help us spend more time together." Shepard winked.

"You mean live together?" Tali asked in a surprised tone.

Shepard nodded and as soon as he did Tali had pounced on him accidently hitting his head on the floor, "Keelah! I'm so sorry Shepard. Are you alright?"

"Takes more than that to take me down Tal. So is that a yes then?" Shepard grinned.

Tali was thankful that no one could see her blushing furiously both from accidently knocking Shepard down and the use of his pet name for her in public. Unable to find her words she nodded and embraced him again.

"Alright you two break it up. There will be plenty of time to _spar_ together when all of the repairs are finished." Garrus laughed.

**That's all for chapter two, hoped you all enjoyed it! The next chapter is about halfway done but not sure when I will get the time to work on it. Hopefully this will keep you all happy while I try to finish the next one.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the wait but I finally found the time to finish this chapter. A big thank you to those who have been reading and I hope that you continue to read as I continue to add to this still growing story. I'm not sure when I will get the time to work on the next chapter but until then please enjoy!**

Chapter Three

Commander Shepard sighed explosively as he stepped out of Anderson's office. The spectre did not envy Anderson one bit. Throughout the entire meeting he had felt as if he was arguing with a wall. He glanced down at his omnitool and swore when he saw the time. He had been in there for over seven hours! The inspection of the Normandy alone was two hours and he had immediately left to attend the meeting as soon as he was told that C-Sec had found no evidence of anything that could be harmful.

As usual he had Anderson's complete support, but that alone wasn't enough to sway the other councilors. At his insistence, Shepard was allowed to present the data that they had managed to salvage from the collector base. He was met with the usual series of denials that was to be expected whenever he reported to them. When asked for more information, Shepard had given the same report he had given to Admiral Hackett about the Reaper invasion. At that point the Tevos and Valern seemed convinced and said that they were grateful that the commander was done with Cerberus. Councilor Sparatus however scoffed at the report and had even went as far as accusing the commander of the destruction of the Bahak system was some form of revenge for what happened to his unit back in the Skyllian Blitz. Although the meeting had been more of a win for him, the council were still dragging their feet.

Taking his mind off of the meeting he wondered if the crew had finish their assignments. Pushing the thought to the back of his mind he approached the nearby transport terminal and boarded a waiting skycar. The skycar took off and begun to glide along with hundreds of other vehicles. Shepard watched the vista below him speed by and concentrated on trying to alleviate himself of his splitting headache. Ten minutes later he had arrived at the Zakera ward docks. The docks seemed busier than usual and the noise that came with it only aggravated the headache as he made his ways through customs. The ward was crowded as usual with various individuals going about their businesses. As he looked around he spotted Garrus leaving the Cafe. The turian was taking a sip from a container which on closer examination turned out to be a dextro equivalent of a soft drink. Garrus had apparently noticed the commander and jogged over to his friend while waving his free hand.

"Shepard! Good to see you out here finally." Garrus shouted over the noise of a nearby group of asari.

"You and me both. The council is more annoying then a pack of pyjaks." Shepard shouted back.

"I take it that the council is still as stubborn as ever?"

"Yeah, It wasn't a complete loss though. They agreed to change the registry on the Normandy to a spectre vessel and to fund our assignments. At least they know that we aren't working with Cerberus anymore. "

"Did you show them the data we got from the collector base?"

"They gave me the usual "We will need to verify this information." speech. I even gave them my report on what happen while we were in the Bahak system and Sparatus had the nerves to tell me that I did it out of revenge. I swear their not going to fully trust me unless I have drop a reaper on their heads," Shepard paused as a particularly rude krogan shoved his way between them before continuing, "On the bright side, Anderson is seeing to it that the repairs to the Normandy will be finished before we leave. Apparently he has an assignment for us to look into, he hasn't told me anything about it though."

Garrus chuckled at the joke about the council however he understood his commander's frustration. He had dealt with many situations like that when he was in C-Sec. Seeing that it would be pointless complaining about the council if they weren't going to fully cooperate he decided to change the subject.

"If its any consolation the crew is almost done with all their tasks. I'm not sure about the new crew uniform though. Gabby said it was coming along nicely but she and Jack wants to wait until everyone is together before they unveil it."

"Sounds good to me. We're gonna be here for another day or two so I might as well schedule a bit of shore leave for the crew. Everybody has been working hard, they deserve it." Shepard said feeling relieved that everything was going smoothly and found the idea of having some shore leave immensely appealing.

"Alright. Well I'm gonna check in on the weapons shipment I ordered. Grunt said he was gonna make sure the shipment would be on time. Knowing what kind of paperwork that will be involved I'd better get over there before something unfortunate happens. I'll see you later."

"Take it easy Garrus." Shepard waved as the turian spun around and made his way to the warehouses.

Not knowing what to do next Shepard decided to wander around a bit. He ran in to Samara along the way and noticed that she had a bag filled with what seemed like fifty vids. When he had asked why she had bought so many she explained that in her experience missions such as theirs could prove to be quite taxing on the crew, she knew the crew could use some form of entertainment now and then and thought that some vids would do the trick. Agreeing with her he asked her opinion about giving the crew some shore leave and Samara had actually smiled and thought that was a terrific idea.

After chatting with the justicar for a bit he decided he would go see what Tali was up to. Thinking that she would be at the tech shop he quickly made his way down the stairs to the next level. Along the way he saw Kasumi, Kelly, and Gardner all eating ramen. Kasumi had noticed Shepard's presence and waved and then pointed at several crates. On closer inspection he had noticed they were all labeled provisions. He was impressed, the amount seemed like it would last them close to a year. However he had the sneaking suspicion that some of them were "acquired" rather than purchased.

He was disappointed when he did not see Tali inside the store. Shepard sighed and greeted the storekeeper as he stepped into Saronis Applications outlet and idly browsed the kiosk. He scrolled through the inventory list looking for anything that might be useful. After about a minute of searching he found a decontamination unit that looked promising. '_Hmm. A decon chamber could be useful. I could always have it installed in the hallway between the cabin and the elevator.' _

His mind made up he placed an order and had the shipment routed to the Normandy. He was confident the technicians repairing the ship would have no problem installing this particular upgrade. He swiped his credit chit and grabbed his proof of purchase receipt. It wasn't until he left the shop that he noticed the growling sensation inside of him. Glancing down at his omnitool again he decided he had the time to grab a bite and it wasn't long before he flopped down into the seat next to Kasumi and Kelly.

"Hey Shep! Glad you could join us," Kasumi cheerily greeted and signaled the cook, "Another bowl for my friend please!"

"Thanks. How did everything go with the supplies?" Shepard asked as he waited for his food.

"Good all things considered. Gardner here knows his stuff. Kelly, and I could barely keep up with him." Kasumi grinned as she nodded towards the mess sergeant.

"Don't let my looks fool you Miss Goto. I'm pretty spry for my age." Gardner laughed.

"Well with all the supplies we picked up I just hope we have the room for it. And I always thought I had a spending problem." Kelly smiled absentmindedly as she fiddled with her chopsticks.

Before he could ask further, a bowl of ramen was placed in front of him and without a thought Shepard had already grabbed his chopsticks and began to eat eagerly. As he ate the others continued to update him on their task as well as some of the other tasks the crew was working on that they had seen. As soon as he finished his bowl he sat back and let out a contented sigh.

"That's much better. It sounds like to me that you did good. If there isn't anything else that the three of you need to do you can head back to the Normandy for a break. Oh by any chance did any of you see Tali? I need to speak to her about a couple of upgrades for the engineering deck I thought of."

"I'm pretty sure I saw her wander off to the Sirta store commander. Don't know if shes still there though." Gardner answered.

"Thanks. Oh and Kelly, when you get back to the ship would you be so kind as to tell everyone that as soon as the repairs are finished that the crew is gonna have some shore leave on the Citadel."

"Of course Shepard. I'll take care of it." Kelly smiled.

He watched the three of them stand to leave and he noticed that Kasumi was the last to leave. The petite young woman didn't say anything but she winked knowing what Shepard had actually meant when he asked about Tali before disappearing. He let out a long sigh. He knew that the others would eventually figure out what was going on between Tali and the commander. It was always the same thing on each vessel he had served on, scuttlebutt always managed to find its way around the ship. Shaking his head he turned and made his way through the crowds towards the Sirta outlet.

As soon as he saw the Sirta Foundation store he noticed that Tali was inside browsing the kiosk. Smiling he decided sneak up on her. Unfortunately his plan didn't really worked as he thought it would because as soon as he stepped into the store he heard the advertisement of himself proclaiming that this was his favorite store. '_Yeah and three other stores' _He thought to himself.

Hearing the advertisement Tali had turned around to see who had come in and she spotted Shepard groaning, though from what she did not know. With a smile she quickly ran up to him and threw her arms around him.

"Shepard! I thought you would be back on the Normandy. What are you doing here? Tali exclaimed.

"Well I just wanted to check in on how things are going. So what were you looking at?" Shepard asked.

"Oh. Um I was just browsing really. I didn't see anything that I could use for my suit." Tali replied as she begun to wring her hands together.

"Tali, you know you don't have to be nervous about telling me whats bothering you." Shepard spoke in a low enough tone that only she could hear him.

"I know. Well its just I was hoping to find something that could help my immune system more. You know so that I could try to be out of my suit more often. I just want to be able to make you happy and I know that you are but I just..." Tali stopped realized she was starting to ramble again.

"Sorry." Tali placed her hand over her visor.

"You've got nothing to be sorry about Tali. It doesn't matter to me if you can't be out of your suit when we're alone. What matters is that I'm with you and that is more than enough for me." Shepard said as he placed both of his hands on her shoulders.

Tali immediately felt better after hearing Shepard's comforting words. He had such a unique ability to turn almost any situation into one that benefited everyone.

_'Keelah. How could I have been so lucky? Hes everything I've ever wanted and more.' _She felt him take hold of her hand with his and guided her back out of the store and back in to the crowd of the busy ward. She saw several passerby's giving her dirty looks and she started to feel the same hurt she had felt during her Pilgrimage but then she would see Shepard glance at her with a smile and she forgot about the stares that were directed towards her instantly.

"Come on Tali, lets get back to the Normandy. I'm eager to see the new uniform that Gabby and Jack are working on. Who knows maybe they are done with it by now. And I was also hoping that maybe we could have dinner together." Shepard winked at her.

"I'd like that Louis." Tali giggled.

"Oh breaking rules now are we?" Shepard grinned.

"Do you approve _Louis_?" Tali whispered in a seductive tone.

"Oh I could definitely get use to hearing you say my name." Shepard grinned even wider.

**Hoped you enjoyed this chapter. As always please leave a review positive or negative. I'll try not to keep you waiting to long for the next one.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey there folks hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long. After several instances of writers block and constant study I've managed to finish this chapter. Either way thanks for reading and I hope to finish the next chapter in the coming month. Anyway enjoy!**

Chapter Four

Garrus stood in the large cargo bay as he watched several dock workers carry several equipment crates. The cargo bay was filled with all sorts of crates and people, technicians were working hard on welding new deck plates together to replace the damaged ones while dock workers scurried in and out with tools and supplies. Jacob and Thane were standing off in the corner instructing some of the crew on various hand to hand techniques. He watched the drell flow like water as he performed some sort of move used in situations against a charging krogan. He could only hope that the crew wouldn't need to use it. The turian leaned back against the wall as he tried to clear his head. Making sure that each shipment was correct and delivered on time was much more difficult than he had originally expected. He had a bit of trouble from Grunt when he had reached the shipping warehouse.

The krogan was a bit overeager, when he saw the weapon crates he had literally begun tearing the crates apart in search of the biggest gun he could get his hands on. Garrus had walked in just as soon as a crate holding M-8 Avenger assault rifles had been hurled against the wall next to the door. Zaeed who had been there with Grunt, was swearing as if there was no tomorrow, as he tried to get Grunt under control and was on the verge of tearing the plate off of the young krogan. Together they had managed to convince Grunt to head back to the Normandy with the promise he could bash in the face of the first merc they saw.

_'I don't even know how Shepard even manages to keep krogan like Grunt under control. Then again he did talk Wrex out of killing us all back on Virmire.'_

"Hey Garrus! Mind giving me a hand with something?" Kenneth shouted as he poked his head into the cargo bay, interrupting his train of thought.

"Sure thing!" Garrus shouted over the noise of technicians welding as he made his way through the cascading sparks.

When he left the cargo bay he was surprised to see what Kenneth was up to. The engineer had a pile of all sorts of equipment at his feet.

"Boy is the Normandy gonna be a beast by the time I'm through with her." Kenneth grinned as he picked up various parts to what seemed like a coupling for the mass effect core.

"Isn't this a bit much though?" Garrus asked as he waded through a pile of stealth heat sinks.

"Not really. Just need someone to help me carry all of this in and sort them out so that I won't spend hours figuring out where I had put it in the first place. Gabby and I are gonna have a helluva time getting this stuff all installed and working. If I'm lucky I could get all of this finished before Tali comes back and chews me out for going overboard."

Garrus chuckled. He had heard about how tyrannical Tali could be down in engineering. It was after all close to impossible for the other engineers to keep up with her standards.

"I'm not really worried though. The lass has been in a cheery mood lately." Kenneth added as he grabbed a crate and tossed it to Garrus.

* * *

><p>Tali leaned her head against Shepard's chest as they sat in the skycar on its way back to the docks. She glanced up at the commander every now and then wondering what he was thinking. Although his face bore some signs of weariness, he still had a faint smile and she could hear him humming a strange but soft tune as he held her. Trying to recall what she knew of human culture she thought it sounded similar to classical music humans enjoyed back in the 20th century. <em>'He has such a peculiar taste in music.' <em>She thought. She couldn't wait to get back on to the ship. She was eager to spend some more time alone with Shepard. The thought of being with him brought up another question that had been nagging her for some time now.

"Louis?" Tali whispered as she shifted in his arms so that she could see his face better.

"What is it Tal?" Shepard answered as he looked down at her.

"Does anyone else know about us yet?"

He looked at her thoughtfully before speaking. Aside from rumors, only a few people knew about their relationship.

"Well I'm pretty sure that only Garrus and Kasumi knows for sure. Mordin obviously knows but I don't think hes the kind of person who would tell anybody. Some of the crew are starting to wonder why your spending more time out of engineering but I think they aren't aware."

"Is that all?" Tali asked.

"Well no. There is one other person that knows." Shepard rubbed the back of his neck.

"Who is it?"

"My mother." Shepard smiled as he vaguely saw Tali's eye's widen.

"You bosh'tet! Why didn't you tell me that she knew? Keelah, is she okay with me being with you?" Tali exclaimed.

"Tali, I didn't tell her. She just picked up on it. I think she figured it out when she asked how I was doing. I told her I was doing alright and said that the crew was in excellent shape and I must have talked about you a little more than everyone else." Shepard explained with a sheepish smile.

"But is she alright with us? I mean what with me being a quarian and you being a human."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure she would love you more than any of the women I've been with before joining the Alliance."

"You should quit while your ahead Louis." Tali growled at the mention of other women that Shepard had been with. Even though she knew he hadn't been with anyone else when they had first met what with the rules of fraternization she thought that he might have been with some women earlier in his life.

"Come on Tal, I was younger at the time. Besides it was hard to have a stable relationship with anyone when your constantly moving from ship to ship."

"So I take it that you had a lot of heartbreaks back then?" Tali teased.

Shepard didn't say anything but instead he looked a bit depressed. Tali immediately felt bad for what she had said and wished she could take it back.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Tali apologized and placed her hand on his.

"It's fine. It was a long time ago and," Shepard trailed off before starting again, "I'll tell you about it sometime."

Tali understood what Shepard was feeling. Being raised in the Migrant Fleet she had grown use to loss. Losing her parents and several friends. Each death she had felt helpless with the exception of her father's death where Shepard had held her closely as she cried into his shoulder. She knew that the commander had lost some of his unit in the Blitz and the loss still haunted him but the thought of Shepard experiencing heartache surprised her. For the most part she had always seen him with a stoic attuide but not to the point where he was made out of stone.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the skycar reached their destination and landed with a soft thump. The doors slid open and Shepard got out first and turned and offered a hand to Tali. Tali smiled and took his hand as he helped her out of the vehicle, she noticed that the commander had regained his spirited demeanor as soon as he held her hand. The two of them made their way towards the docks eager to get away from the noisy ward.

* * *

><p>"If you ask me I think it looks fucking great." Jack commented as Gabby held up the finish uniform. Jack leaned up against the wall in Port Cargo as Gabby sat on a crate she had dragged out from behind Grunt's breeding tank. The two of them had made a few purchases from various stores. Jack didn't have much to work with since most of the uniform was military issued and she was sure that Shepard wouldn't have approved of her styple prefrences for their uniform.<p>

"I know, I just wish we had more time to work with it," Gabby replied as she looked it over before continuing, "We still need a new emblem though. Any ideas?"

"I got a couple of ideas that sure as hell better than that Cerberus symbol. Shepard's gonna love what I got in mind." Jack smirked.

"What is it?" Gabby asked as she neatly folded the uniform and set it aside.

"The fuck you looking at?" Jack shouted at a nearby salarain carrying a welder who quickly scurried away before leaning in towards Gabby.

Gabby smiled as soon as she heard Jack's idea. She was right, the commander was gonna love it. "Jack, how did you come up with that?"

"Dabbled a bit in poetry but the fuck do you care."

* * *

><p>Tali and Shepard waited in the airlock for the decontamination cycle to finish. She briefly wondered if she should go back down to engineering to check in on everything but she decided that could wait. The hatch slid apart silently and they crossed the threshold and made their way towards the CIC. Miranda was conversing with two crew members by the elevator. Whatever they were talking about she couldn't hear but she assumed that they were being briefed on another assignment. The crewmen nodded and strode away towards the armory. Miranda examined her datapad and nodded several times. Apparently she was satisfied with the contents on the datapad because she smiled as she saw them approaching<p>

"Good to see you Commander, Tali." Miranda nodded to each of them in turn.

"How are things going so far?" Shepard asked.

"The repairs to the ship are almost finished, I was told that the repairs will be done by tomorrow morning. All of the supplies and shipments are in the cargo bay right now, we're still getting them sorted out. I had some of the crew help EDI locate the bugs throughout the ship and I'm sure that there is no way that the Illusive man will be able to track us now. I've already compiled a list of the other assignments that are done so that you can go over it when you have the time Commander." Miranda listed off as she scrolled through the datapad again before handing it to the commander.

"Thanks, Miranda couldn't have done it without you." Shepard replied.

"I told the rest of the crew to gather in the mess hall once they have finished up with their tasks. I'll be down there once I sort out a few things up here first."

Shepard nodded and turned towards the elevator with Tali. Before turning to leave, Miranda noticed how Tali swayed her hips slightly more than usual as she followed the commander.

_'Interesting. Maybe there is something going on between the two of them.' _Miranda noted before strolling off to the tech lab to speak with Mordin.

* * *

><p>"Would you like some time to go over the reports Louis? I could always go down to engineering to check in on the others." Tali spoke up as soon as the hatch closed.<p>

"No, I can go over it later tonight. Lets go down to the mess and grab something to eat, you must be starving by now."

Tali nodded and waited while he tapped the button for the elevator to descend to the next deck. The two of them said nothing as they waited for the elevator to reach their destination. Tali listened to the gentle hum of the ship, the sound had a soothing effect on her senses.

The door to the crew deck opened, spilling light into the dim elevator. Shepard blinked several times to let his eyes adjust. The ramen that he had eaten earlier had finally wore off and he heard the familiar growl of his stomach. Taking hold of Tali's hand he led her towards one of the tables before walking over towards Gardner to get some food for the both of them.

Tali watched from the table as she waited for Shepard to come back with the food. Letting her eyes slide across the commander's alien but pleasing form, she felt herself drifting off into a daydream of being able to be with the man she cared so much for without her suit._'Damn this suit and damn my immune system.' _It wasn't nearly as bad as her first night with Shepard, now it was mostly a slight fever coupled with a cough. So preoccupied by her own thoughts she jumped when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She looked up and saw Kasumi grinning.

"Hey Tal, what are you doing here sitting by yourself?" The thief asked as she pulled a seat out and sat next to her friend.

"Oh, um I was just waiting for Shepard. He's getting some food for the both of us." Tali replied.

"So your sure you weren't just sitting there daydreaming about Shepard?" Kasumi teased, enjoying the response she got out of it.

Tali was immediately thankful that nobody could see her blushing. The strength of Kasumi's perception unnerved her.

"Well... Maybe a little bit." Tali admitted.

"Your two are just adorable." Kasumi smiled as she reclined back into her seat.

Tali couldn't help but smile at that. Before she could say thank you, Shepard had sat down across from the two of them with a MRE in hand as he placed a packet of nutrient paste in front of her.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I ladies?" Shepard asked as he took a bite out of his meal.

"Of course not Louis," Tali purred much to Shepard's satisfaction before continuing, "I was just about to ask if the rumors are true about Kasumi having a crush on someone ."

Tali giggled as she saw Kasumi cheeks become increasingly red while Shepard chuckled. Tali connected the packet to her mask and began to swallow the paste as she listened to Shepard's slightly embellished account of his meeting with the council. They all laughed as Shepard did a close impersonation of Sparatus. The three of them continued to chat about various things until the rest of the crew showed up. Everybody was exhausted but that did not diminish the good mood of the crew. As everybody got settled and a quick meal to quiet their rumbling stomachs, Gabby and Jack came in with Hawthorne who was carrying a large crate and set it on the table. Everyone waited eagerly to see the new uniform.

"Alright everyone! Me and Gabs here have been working on this pretty hard so you better fucking appreciate it." Jack shouted as she pulled off the lid to the crate and started pulling out small boxes.

Gabby opened one of the boxes and pulled out the uniform and held it up to their audience. There was a series of gasps as the crew saw the completed work. Shepard himself was impressed with the work. It looked similar to the standard Cerberus crew uniform. The form fitting shirt was jet black with a gold trim running along the shoulders. The cargo pants had a black and gray camouflage pattern reminding him of his days back in basic training. The belt that came with it had several pouches to hold various objects but most likely to hold spare thermal clips. The one thing that held Shepard's attention the most was the new emblem emblazoned on both shoulders. The emblem had the distinctive shape of a Reaper but this particular Reaper was being impaled by a sword with the tip of the blade on fire.

As soon as the presentation was finished Gabby and Jack began to distribute the boxes to each member of the crew with the exception of Jacob and Miranda who decided to keep their own uniforms but proudly replaced the Cerberus emblem with the new one. Once everyone had received a box, Shepard stood up and addressed the crew.

"First off, I want to thank everyone for all their hard work. I am proud to be in charge of the finest crew I know of. I also want to thank Gabby and Jack for the amazing uniform. I can't imagine what the council would say if they were to see me wearing this, but I think it would be worth it." The crew chuckled along with the commander on his remark of how stubborn the council was.

"Once the repairs are finished I say we all head to the Dark Star to celebrate! Anybody interested in coming talk to Kelly. You all deserve it." Shepard shouted as he watched the crew cheer.

* * *

><p>Two hours later, Shepard was in his cabin going through several of his messages. The commander had retired to his quarters not that long after he announced that the crew was gonna have some time to relax. He reclined back in his seat as he sighed and wondered what Tali was up to. She had gone down to engineering when she had caught wind of the amount of equipment Kenneth had purchased. He was about to turn in for the night when he noticed a new message had appeared on his terminal. It was from Anderson and he wanted to speak right away. Thinking that this would be important he immediately opened up a link to the councilor. The display of model ships became obscure as the link was established and Anderson appeared on the screen.<p>

"Shepard. Glad you got my message."

"You wanted to speak to me?" Shepard replied

"As a matter of fact yes. I have an assignment for you. Due to the nature of your current situation, I thought you would want to hear this."

Shepard didn't reply but nodded as he waited for Anderson to continue.

"We've had reports that a supply freighter carrying equipment to Horizon has dropped off the grid. We sent a scout ship to the freighter's last know coordinates. They sent a message that they had arrived but we've lost contact with them as well. The Alliance has been dealing with an increase in pirate activity around that area, so they sent a battle group under the SSV Orizaba to investigate."

"It seems a bit odd that they sent a dreadnought with a heavy escort just to investigate."

"I know. That's why I want you in on this investigation. This doesn't add up, and I have a feeling that there's a whole lot more going on."

"Any reason why the Alliance brass is holding out on us?"

"They don't want news of a potential war with the batarians to become public. I understand why they would want to keep this in the dark but something's not right."

"I'll take care of it."

"I know you will Shepard. I know the repairs are still not finish so I'm giving your crew a few days to relax before you head back out there."

"Thank you. I had actually told the crew that they have some leave tomorrow. They have been through a lot and they deserve it. That will give us time to do a system check before we leave the Citadel."

"Alright Shepard. Let me know if you need anything and I'll make sure you get it. Good luck."

The display slowly faded away and the model ships were visible again. Shepard wondered why they had sent his mother on something so trivial. Anderson was right something didn't add up. Setting aside his concern he looked at his new uniform that was laid out on the bed. Deciding to get a feel for the new uniform he quickly undressed, tossing aside the Cerberus fatigues, and pulled on the new one. The fabric felt almost as if it was silk, although it was slightly bulkier due to the interwoven Kevlar. After a minute the fatigues almost felt like a second skin. Gabby and Jack had done an exceptional job. Stepping towards the fish tanks he tapped the button and watched as the fish began to dart around each other to reach the food. He dropped some food in for Rupert and watched as the hamster scurried about squeaking.

Shepard sat down and picked up the datapad Miranda had given himand began to scan through its contents. Everything seemed to be coming together quite nicely. He took note of the extensive amounts of equipment Kenneth had bought and felt bad for the young engineer having to fend for himself against Tali. He chuckled at the thought. He remembered one time back on the first Normandy when Tali had become extremely frustrated with him when he told her that he had some how managed to "break" his omni-tool despite the life time warranty. Glancing up from the datapad, he looked over at the holo of Tali and himself. The holo was taken two weeks earlier when they were on Illium. In the holo Tali had wrapped her arms around his waist while leaning her head on his shoulder as he smiled. Kasumi was there at the time and had been thoughtful enough to take the holo and had given it to him as a gift.

As the commander continued to gaze at the picture he was unaware of the door opening. Tali quietly crept into the cabin and slowly approached him from behind. She slowly slid her arms around him and felt him tense up before relaxing when he knew it was her.

"Are you tired Louis?" Tali whispered as she let her hands slide across his chest.

"I was before you came up here." Shepard replied with one of his signature lady killer smiles.

He slowly stood up and turned around placing his hands on her slender waist. Tali let her eyes flick up and down as she took in the commander in the new uniform.

"You like it don't you?" Shepard grinned.

"I think that I might go easy on Gabby for quite some time because of this." Tali purred deeply as she slowly pushed Shepard closer to the bed.

"Are you sure your up to it? It's alright if you aren't." Shepard asked obviously concerned with her health.

Tali felt as if the temperature in the cabin had gone up several degrees as she looked into Shepard's brown eyes. They were so different from the eyes of quarian males but something about them made her feel safe. Slowly she reached up and pulled off her mask and set it aside. She gave Shepard a quick smile before pouncing him. Her lips sought his as she pushed against him. Shepard started to kiss her back, struggling to match her intensity as he pushed back against her which elicited a soft moan as she placed both hands on his shoulders to steady herself. Several minutes passed by before they reluctantly pulled away from each other. Shepard wrapped an arm around her waist as she intertwined her legs with his.

"Does that answer your question Louis?" Tali whispered huskily.

"I'm pretty sure I got the gist of it." Shepard grinned as he rolled them both over playfully as he pinned her down.

Tali giggled and pulled him down for another embrace, enjoying the sensation. Pulling out from under him she reached up to the seals along her shoulder and began piece by piece removing her suit. Realizing what she was doing Shepard sat up and began to pull off his fatigues as he watched Tali reach around her back and undid several of the clasps that held together the torso portion of her suit. As she removed the last piece she noticed that Shepard was having trouble with his belt. She laid on her side with only her shawl on. Feeling somewhat cold, she covered herself with the sheets though not as much as to obscure her entire body from Shepard's vision. She examined his well-toned figured, her eyes lingering on his faint scars. The more she looked the more aroused she became. Shepard at this point abandoned his attempt on removing the belt and quickly moved in towards her. Shepard felt Tali's sharp teeth nipping at his ear in a playful manner.

"Your such a bosh'tet," Tali moaned as she rolled both of them over so that she was on top again before continuing, "But your my bosh'tet."

**That's all I got for you guys for now but don't worry I'm already working on the next chapter. Reviews are appreciated and maybe I won't suffer from writer's block so often this time around. Hoped you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all in the next one!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Well hello there everybody! As I promised here's the next chapter. I am currently working on the next chapter and will probably have it out sometime next month. A lot of time went into this chapter so I hope you enjoy it!**

Chapter Five

Tali slowly opened her eyes. The gentle hum of the Normandy comforted her. She slowly sat up and heard the sound of the door to the bathroom sliding open. Looking up she saw Shepard coming out of the bathroom. He had a warm smile on his face when he saw her. He started to speak to her, except she couldn't hear his voice. Before she could wonder why she couldn't hear him, a loud explosion shook her. She looked around for the source but instead of being in the pristine cabin on the Normandy, she found herself inside of a dark room. She let her eyes adjust to the dimness and realized that she was back on the Rayya.

_'How did I end up back here and what was that noise?'_

Curious she exited the room. Upon leaving the room she found herself at the end of a long cramped corridor. She heard the same noise at the end of the corridor and she ran towards the source. As she reached the door she could hear screaming. Hesitantly, she opened the door and found herself in one of the clean rooms. Shock gripped her entire body. There in the center of the room was her mother gasping as if she was suffocating.

"Mother!"

Her mother turned her head to look at her. Although her visor obscured her face she could still see tears. She felt her own tears beginning to flow down her face.

"Tali. I'm so sorry." her mother sobbed.

"Mother what happened?" Tali shouted as she ran towards her mother.

Her mother gave a rattling cough before answering, "One of the filtration units failed. I tried to repair it before anything else could happened but somehow my suit ruptured. I couldn't repair it in time to stop an infection."

"No no no! This can't be happening!" Tali began stammering refusing to accept what she was hearing.

"Don't worry about me Tali. There's nothing you can do for me. I'll always love you. May the ancestors watch over you. Keelah se'lai."

Before she could do anything, her mother was still in her arms. Her own vision began to grow dark as she screamed for help.

Tali shot straight up in bed, breathing heavily. She was back on the Normandy again only this time she was sure she was awake. She pulled the sheets up to her neck as she tried to calm herself down. As she felt her breathing return to normal she quickly turned around looking for Shepard.

"Louis?" she called out.

Her heart began to race again as she started to panic. Gathering her surroundings she noticed that his uniform was still neatly folded and set aside on the bedside table, her own suit was set along side of it. Seeing his uniform comforted her because it confirmed that he hadn't left the cabin.

_'Maybe hes in the bathroom.'_

As if to confirm her thoughts, the bathroom door slid open and Shepard walked out. His hair was still dripping water. He was wearing a form fitting shirt and a pair of briefs. He had concern on his face when his eyes settled upon her.

"Something wrong Tal?" Shepard asked as he threw the towel he was using into a cleaning bin.

"No, I... I was just wondering where you were." Tali stammered. She was still somewhat shaken from the dream. It was not often she had dreams like this and usually when she did, something bad always happened.

"Sorry, I just didn't want to wake you up."

Shepard strode across the room and and sat down next to her. He pulled her in for a gentle embrace. She quickly felt the worry inside of her dwindle.

"Did you sleep alright Tal?" Shepard asked with mild interest.

"I slept just fine, it would have been better if it weren't for a certain bosh'tet snoring." Tali teased, trying to forget her dream.

"I don't snore." Shepard replied defensively.

Tali only giggled as she watched Shepard deny the fact that he snored. He reached over and grabbed his uniform and began to slip into his fatigues. Tali couldn't help but stare at his features as he dressed. She began to drift again as she let her eyes trace his figure. Shepard noticed her staring and gave her quick grin.

"Enjoying the _view_ Miss Zorah?"

"Definitely." Tali purred in response.

"As much as I hate the idea, you'd better get dressed. We have to look presentable before we go meet with the rest of the crew at the Dark Star."

Tali feigned a pout and reluctantly began pulling her suit back on piece by piece. She struggled with the clasps on her back, as she reached around she felt Shepard's hand. She turned around to see him smile. He quickly snapped the clasps together. She smiled in return and bent over to retrieve her helmet. This time Shepard couldn't help but admire her body. Of all the women he had ever been with none of them could compare to Tali's beauty. Although her form was different from that of a human, it had certain exotic qualities. Those hips of hers commanded his attention. He was quickly interrupted from his thoughts when Tali secured her helmet.

"Ready?" Tali asked.

"Always."

* * *

><p>When they stepped out of the elevator into the CIC everybody was already there. Kasumi gave a quick wave at the couple when she saw them. Tali gave Shepard a quick hug before running off to join her friend. Despite the rumors he had been hearing about Tali and himself, the two of them had agreed to wait before they publicly announce their relationship. Shepard wasn't really worried about it and had decided to let Tali take the lead in the relationship.<p>

The crew were all wearing the new uniforms and were all eagerly awaiting for his orders. Kelly was busily dividing the crew into small groups so that they could all go to the lounge in an orderly fashion rather than appearing like a pack of varren. Once she was satisfied she gave a curt nod to Shepard who in turn gave the order to disembark. Shepard quickly joined up with Tali, Kasumi, and Garrus. The four of them boarded a skycar and were soon on their way.

By the time Shepard and his group reached the Dark Star, the rest of the crew was already streaming inside. The crew slowly integrated with the crowds and slowly but surely began to unwind and enjoy themselves. The patrons must have found it quite the site seeing so many people in uniform, but eventually returned to their own enjoyment without so much as an afterthought. Before long the lounge was packed.

"Let's get this party started! Who wants a drink?" Shepard shouted, his voice piercing through the loud brazen notes of the music.

The crew all shouted their approvals and began placing their orders. As soon as the drinks were all distributed, Kenneth stood up and visibly cleared his throat before shouting, "To Shepard!"

The rest of the crew quickly followed suit raising their drinks. Shepard however shook his head and replied, "No. To all of us!"

* * *

><p>The hours flew by as the everybody enjoyed themselves. After several rounds of drinks everyone was relaxed. Several of the crewmen were dancing, laughing at each other as they did. Grunt and Zaeed were busy recounting times where they had dealt with much carnage, both trying to one up the others story. Kelly, along with several of the female crew members were all eagerly listening to Thane describe his life. Mordin was actively engaged in conversation with Legion. Samara had wandered off to dance floor and was actually smiling as she mingled with the crew. Jacob was leaning in his chair with his feet propped up on the table, listening to the music while taking a long swig from his drink. Miranda and Jack were for once not arguing and were both conversing in a polite manner though what about Shepard had no idea, however as long as nobody ended up getting thrown across the room he was confident that he wouldn't have to break apart another fight.<p>

It felt great to finally relax Shepard happily thought as a pleasant buzz filled his head. Tali was fiddling with her container, letting the contents slosh about inside. Grinning, Shepard reached over and grasped her hand.

"Care to dance Tali?" Shepard nodded towards the dance floor.

Normally Tali would probably have tried to decline the offer as politely she could. It's not as if she didn't know how to dance, she just didn't feel the need let others know about their relationship. But seeing the boyish grin on Shepard's face plus feeling somewhat bolder after several drinks she decided that it was a great idea.

"Of course." Tali eagerly replied and allowed Shepard to pull her towards the dance floor.

The two of them made their way towards the center of the dance floor. All eyes were suddenly on them. Tali immediately became aware of everybody staring, but she didn't care about that. All she wanted was to be with Shepard. Without missing a beat Tali began to dance, her arms sliding along her body, her hips were swaying. Her movements flowing like water. Shepard tried to keep up with Tali's more elegant moves. He was never a good dancer. He pushed the thought aside and concentrated on enjoying every moment dancing with Tali. He had never known that she could dance. She had once mentioned that dancers were respected among her people, and now he understood why.

As soon as they finished their dance the crew began to cheer enthusiasticlly, several of them whistled. Shepard rubbed the back of his neck and grinned as they made their way back to their table. When they sat back down, Shepard grabbed his drink and took a long pull from it and set it back down with a contented sigh.

"I guess our secret is out." Shepard remarked as he saw Kasumi drag Garrus off to the dance floor.

"I guess so," Tali replied before continuing, "but I think it was only a matter of time."

The two of them relaxed and watched as Kasumi began dancing with a certain uncomfortable turian. Shepard couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

"So is this what you meant when you said Kasumi had a crush on somebody?"

"Yes, I saw Kasumi spying on Garrus whenever he was in the mess having dinner." Tali giggled.

"I thought she had a crush on Jacob."

Tali only shrugged and leaned back against Shepard.

* * *

><p>The hours flew by quickly and with it so did the celebration. It was starting to get late and everybody had long since passed the point of one too many drinks. Shepard himself was no exception. Against his better judgment, he had climbed up on one of the tables and shouted that he was in love with Tali. The entire crew erupted into cheers and laughter as they saw their usually reserved commander drunk. Before anybody could react though Shepard slipped and fell off the table. Everything began to fade and Shepard was vaguely aware of his crew gathering around him with alarmed expressions. The last thing he remembered before he passed out was Tali and Garrus struggling to lift the commander up onto his feet.<p>

Two hours later Shepard opened his eyes. He was back in his cabin. His head felt as if he had been headbutted repeatedly by a krogan.

"I really need to stop drinking so much." Shepard muttered to himself.

He gingerly made his way towards the bathroom, each movement causing his headache to flare up. He turned the faucet on and cupped the cold water before splashing it on his face. Feeling somewhat better he stepped out of the bathroom. The squeaking that came from Rupert's tank sounded unnaturally loud to him. Tearing off a chunk of hamster food he dropped it into the tank and hoped that would occupy the hamster. Seeing as he had fed the hamster he might as well feed the fish too or they would die and Shepard couldn't bare to deal with another death even if it was just a fish.

Sitting down at his desk he picked up his data pad and reviewed its contents. The repairs were all finished on time just like Anderson had promised and all of the new components had been installed. Curious, he got up and opened the door to the small hallway between the cabin and the elevator. Sure enough the decon unit was installed. He tested it several times before he was satisfied, he wanted nothing but the best for Tali.

As soon as he thought of her the elevator pinged and the doors slid open. Tali stepped out and saw Shepard fiddling with the new decon unit.

"Oh hey Tali." Shepard sounded as if he was caught doing something he wasn't suppose to be doing.

"Hi. Are you feeling better Louis?" Tali asked. She had helped Garrus take Shepard back to the Normandy. She wanted to stay with the commander, but she had to go down to engineering to make sure everything was working properly.

"A little bit. Have a bit of a headache, but its nothing."

Having a conversation out in the hallway made Tali feel uneasy. Shepard must have came to the same conclusion because he beckoned for her to come inside. The last thing that they needed was for someone to come up and eavesdrop on them. The two of them sat down on the couch and made themselves as comfortable as possible.

"So how's the Normandy?" Shepard asked breaking the silence.

"Everything seems in order. A bit sloppy for my tastes but it better than nothing." Tali grumbled. The dock workers had obviously wanted to finish as quickly as they can.

"What happened after I fell?"

"You don't remember?" Tali replied.

Shepard shook his head and waited for Tali to continue.

"After you fell off the table, Garrus and I carried you back to the Normandy. Miranda had everybody return to the ship and we have been running system checks once everybody was sober."

"Anything else?"

"Actually there is. When everybody got back there was someone waiting for us. You remember Lia'Vael? The quarian you helped when that bosh'tet volus accused her of stealing his credit chit. Well she heard that we were on the Citadel and she asked us if she could join the crew."

"Did she say why she wanted to join?" Shepard asked.

"She said that the shelter she stays at hasn't been doing well lately and that they might shut down altogether. As if that wasn't bad enough, she still can't find work around the ward because everybody she went to refused to give her a job. I didn't say anything yet because I wasn't sure if you wanted another person to join." Tali explained

"Well we can always use the extra help. Go ahead and tell Miranda that we will have a new addition to the crew. She can always take over for you in engineering if your busy."

Tali nodded. She truly was lucky to have someone like Shepard. He always found a way to help everybody. She quickly sent a message to the XO. Although she did not like the Miranda personally, she trusted her to be able to get things done.

Not knowing what else to do, Tali decided that she was gonna spend some more time with Shepard. She reached up and unsealed her visor. The hiss of Tali's visor being removed quickly attracted Shepard's attention.

"Tali, you know we have to be careful. I could get you sick."

"Louis, I know your worried about my health, but its alright. I've been checking in with Mordin lately and hes told me that my immune system is improving."

"Besides the more time I out of my suit with you the better." Tali added as she snuggled up against Shepard.

"Well I still don't want to get you sick unnecessarily. I don't know what I would do without you."Shepard spoke in a soft tone that he generally reserved for her.

"I don't have to take off my suit you know. I could take off my helmet so that you can at least see my face." Tali pointed out.

"Alright that's fine. But if I hear so much as a sneeze, your putting your helmet back on."

Snatching up a vid that he had borrowed from Samara, he inserted it into a slot on the table and a holo appeared above the floating prothean orb. As Shepard sat back down, Tali quickly crawled into his arms as the opening sequence for _'Fleet and Flotilla' _began.

* * *

><p>At that moment the SSV Orizaba and her battle group successfully made their jump to Iera system. Captain Hannah Shepard listened as the other ships under her command checked in to confirm their jump. They were moving into orbit around Horizon. Not knowing what to expect she had decided to check the colony first.<p>

The colony was recovering fairly well despite the fact that a portion of its population had just vanished. When she received news of the attack on the colony she had thought that it was a batarian raid for more human slaves. By the time the Alliance got there the found that most of the colonists were still there and they told the ground teams of insects that strung them so that they were frozen but aware of their surroundings. The marines came back with stories of the collectors abducting the colonists before they left when the defense towers fired upon the ship of unknown origins.

"Ma'am. The Orizaba, Paris, and Berlin are now in geosynchronous orbit around Horizon. The Concord, and Lexington are following their patrolling procedures. Orders?" One of the ensigns reported.

"Prep the shuttles. Have a marine detail assigned to each one of them. I'm going down there to see if the colonists noticed anything out of the ordinary. XO Richmond has the deck until I return."

"Yes Ma'am!" The ensign saluted.

As soon as the three shuttles cleared the hanger of the SSV Orizaba, they descended towards the nearest port on Horizon. Unbeknownst to the battle group currently in orbit, several cruisers began its approach towards them.

**That's all for now folks. Hoped you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed working on it. Tried to put Shepard in a different light to show that he isn't perfect. See you all in the next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well hello there everybody! First off a big thanks to those of who have been reading and also a quick thanks to Random Reader about the tag issue. I wanted to get another chapter in before the holidays so think of this as a gift from me to all of you. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be coming out, however I might work on the next chapter while I'm on vacation. But for now enjoy!**

Chapter Six

Tali stood in front of her work station. She had spent most of her time back down in engineering monitoring the drive core levels. It was nice to have the levels stable again, ever since their return from the Omega 4 relay she had been constantly tweaking the core to compensate. Her mind drifted away from her mundane work to her time with Shepard last night. The two of them had spent the whole night watching _'Fleet and Flotilla'. _Even though it wasn't the first time she had seen that film, it was her first time watching it with someone she actually cared for. The two of them had fallen asleep together on the couch. They had only slept for a few hours before both of them had to returned to their duties.

Tali glanced over at her friends. Gabby was fussing over Kenneth like usual. Kenneth was rolling his eyes as Gabby kept telling him that his calculations were off again. The sight of the two of them always made her chuckle. Her mind wandered again, this time settling on their new assignment. Shepard had given the order to leave the Citadel only three hours ago. Apparently they were headed to Horizon, the colony that Shepard had met with Ashley again.

The thought of that women caused Tali to feel a slight rise in her temper. From what she heard from Garrus, who had been on Horizon with Shepard, Ashley had refused to join them believing that Shepard had compromised his morals and joined Cerberus. Even though Shepard didn't talk about it, she knew that deep down that he was hurt. Despite his stoic attitude, the pain caused from someone they had trusted struck deep. If she had been there herself, she probably would have thrown a punch at her old friend.

Everybody from the old team had been loyal to Shepard and still were, but only Garrus and herself had joined Shepard. Tali could understand that Wrex was busy with the clans but as much as he wanted to come he had his priorities. Liara had only joined them briefly before she had taken the Shadow Broker's base for her own use, but she was still helping the commander in her own way. But Ashley had basically turned her back on Shepard. Shaking her head, Tali tried to think of something else.

The sound of the door opening behind her drew her attention. She turned around and saw Lia'Vael. She felt a rush of nostalgia when she saw Lia. The body language that the younger quarian had as she looked around the ship in wonder reminded Tali of herself only two years ago when she had first joined Shepard.

"Hello Lia. Are you checking the ship out?" Tali asked politely.

"Yes. It's such an amazing ship!" Lia replied happily.

"I felt the same way when I joined the first Normandy."

"I've never been on any ship half as advanced as this one! Shepard gave me a tour of the CIC and the crew deck, but he told me that I should go to you for a tour of the engineering deck. I mean if it's alright with you."

"Sure thing. Kenneth? Can you and Gabby cover for me while I show Lia around?" Tali called out to the others.

"No problem Tali." Kenneth smiled as he waved to Lia who nervously waved back. Gabby gave Kenneth a quick nudge before the two of them returned to their work.

Tali began with her workstation and introduced Kenneth and Gabby to Lia. The others were polite to her, much in the same way when Tali had joined after her mission on Haestrom. Lia stared in awe when Tali showed her the drive core. Tali also took her to cargo bay where she pointed out various points of interest, as well as going through all of the specs on the shuttle and Hammerhead.

"And over there is where Zaeed stays, and opposite of him is Grunt's." Tali gestured to both rooms respectively.

"They seem dangerous." Lia said as she voiced her concern.

"Don't worry about it. They mostly keep to themselves. For future reference though, don't get on Grunt's bad side and try not to get stuck listening to Zaeed's story. They go on forever." Tali warned.

Lia nodded as she followed Tali. They bumped into Jack as the door opened. Tali stood her ground but Lia unfamiliar with the biotic stepped back instinctively.

"Well look who it is. Bucket head one and bucket head two. What are the two of you up to?" Jack asked as she folded her arms.

"Hello Jack. I was just showing Lia around the place since she's joining us."

Jack nodded and turned her head in the direction of Lia. Lia took another step back, afraid that she might offend Jack in some way. Jack only shook her head as she brushed past them.

"She needs a little more work before she becomes you bucket head. I'm headed up to the mess. You want anything?"

"No, but thanks Jack." Tali replied. Jack seemed to be in a good mood, which was a surprise to Tali. The biotic had never offered to get anything for anyone else but herself.

"Oh and keep her out of my space would ya? It's already bad enough that we have oversized lizard and a old psycho killer down here." Jack laughed as she stepped into the elevator.

Tali turned around and gestured for Lia to follow her. While she did Lia couldn't help but ask Tali about Jack.

"It's how she is. Don't worry about the name calling, that's just her way of making friends."

"But is she always like that though?"

"Well no not really. She usually swears a lot so it was a bit of surprise that she didn't even swear once. She's actually a decent person, she's just been through a lot of hard times." Tali explained, remembering the time she had tagged along with Shepard so that Jack could confront her past on Pragia.

* * *

><p>For the next two hours, Tali continued to help Lia become more accustomed to her duties. Although Lia wasn't as skilled as Tali, she was compentent enough for Tali to trust her with the ships systems. It was about midday before Tali and Lia stopped so that they could go eat. Tali continued to answer Lia's many questions as they ate. It actually felt nice to be able to talk to another quarian again. Now that she thought about it, she missed her people.<p>

_'Maybe after this assignment I'll ask Louis if we could go visit the fleet. It would be nice to see auntie Raan again.'_

Tali's thoughts were interrupted when she saw Shepard stroll out of the main battery. Having learned almost all of Shepard's body language, she could tell he was distracted. It was almost as if he was just going through the motions without even realizing he was doing anything. Tali gave a small wave and was rewarded a small but warm smile before he entered the med-bay.

"So what's Shepard like?" Lia suddenly asked.

"Well hes.. umm hes great in many ways." Tali said as she tried to form a more coherent reply, "He was the first person who had treated me like an equal after I left for my pilgrimage."

"How did you two meet?"

"Shepard actually saved my life when he was hunting down Saren. Saren had sent some of his men to kill me because I had information on him that would expose him to the council. I probably would have died if it weren't for Shepard."

"Wow. That's incredible! Is it true that your together?"

"How did you know?" Tali asked. Lia had only been on the ship for a few hours. Maybe one of the others told her. But then again her people were very adept at prying into one anothers affairs.

"Well the two of you seem pretty close. Also when he told me that you would show me around engineering there was something in his voice that made me wonder if he was more than just your friend."

"I'm surprised that you picked up on that so soon after joining us. But yes, we have bonded." Tali couldn't help but feel a sense of pride as she said those words. They sounded almost as if she had made her relationship with Shepard official.

Lia looked around nervously as the mess became more crowded as the crew busied themselves with their meals or socializing with others. Several of the crewmen stole a few glances at the two quarians sitting only a few feet away. They looked away quickly as if they were embarrassed when either Lia or Tali turned their heads towards them.

"Don't worry so much Lia. You will get use to it, and besides the crew is pretty great once you get to know them better." Tali commented as she set her empty packet aside before continuing "By the way, have you met Legion yet?"

"Who's Legion?"

"Legion is a geth, it's actually in the A.I. Core room over there." Tali pointed towards the med-bay. She figured it that Lia would be better off if she knew of Legions presence rather than finding out on her own.

"Why is there a geth on the ship? They can't be trusted!" Lia exclaimed.

"Well Legion is a special one. It's actually part of the main collective of geth. The geth everybody has been fighting was a smaller faction called the Heretics that broke away from that collective. I didn't trust it at first either but its saved my life several times now. Trust me."

Lia crossed her arms. She wasn't convinced that there could be such thing as a geth they could trust. It was obvious that it would take time for her to trust a geth. The topic eventually faded off. They were all enjoying themselves before EDI's voice came over the comms.

"ETA one hour from Horizon. Distress beacon has been detected. All hands to their stations! All specialists report in the briefing room."

The crew scrambled to their posts, while all of the specialists all convened at the elevator to meet in the briefing room. Tali directed Lia to head back down to the lower decks to help Gabby and Kenneth before she followed Garrus into the elevator.

"Garrus whats going on?" Tali shouted as the doors closed.

"I have no idea Tali. We'll find out soon enough once Shepard gets up here with the rest of us."

* * *

><p>It wasn't long before everybody was in the briefing room with Shepard being the last to arrive. He had already suited up in his kestrel armor while forgoing his helmet in favor of his kuwashi visor. With his armor and weapons he looked very intimidating.<p>

"As you all know by now we are en route to Horizon. What you probably don't know is why were heading there. The Alliance has been teetering on the edge of war with the batraians. They believe that the batarians are responsible for the raids that occurred near Horizon. In response they sent a battle group there to investigate."

Shepard paused as he let this information sink in.

"There's no telling whats going to happen. We don't even know if it is the batarians, but if it is we have to stop them before this situation goes from bad to worse."

"Commander. I am picking up a transmission from the Alliance battle group." EDI spoke as her avatar appeared in the center of the table.

The sound of proper english voice came through the comms as EDI played back the transmission.

"_This is the SSV Orizaba under current command of lieutenant commander Richmond. We are under attack. Enemy vessels have launched an attack. Requesting immediate support." _The message would pause for a moment before repeating itself.

_'I guess it already has gotten worse." _Shepard thought.

That was all everyone needed to hear to understand the gravity of the situation. The entire team quickly dispersed to gear up for the upcoming battle. Shepard reached out towards Tali as she was leaving.

"Tali. I want you to go to our cabin."

"Why? I should be heading down to manage the shields."

"I know that but listen. You don't launch an attack on a battle group this close to a colony for no reason. I have a feeling there's more to this attack. Head to our cabin and put on your new suit." Shepard explained.

"What are you talking about? What new suit?"

"I was going to surprise you, but I think that it would be put to better use if you had it on now." Shepard had made a few last minute purchases before they left the Citadel. Not exactly how he wanted to give the new suit to Tali but they didn't have time for it right now.

With that Shepard left the room and hurried off to the CIC while Tali did as she was told and quickly made her way to their cabin.

* * *

><p>It felt like an eternity for the elevator to take Tali where she needed to go. Adding to that was the twenty second wait for the decontamination process to finish. Tali bursted into the room and immediately headed towards the armor locker. She tapped the button and waited for the compartment to slide open. The new suit was neatly folded with a different mask set on top of it.<p>

Tali picked up the mask and admired it for a moment. It was slightly more opaque than her own and somewhat thicker. Setting it aside, she pulled out her new suit and examined it. The torso portion was thicker and had a layer of ablative armor. The fabric that wrapped around it was a much darker shade, almost black but when she moved it into the light it seemed to be more of a dark blue.

It took her a few moments to undress and get into the new suit. Unlike her suit, it lacked some of her personal modifications but this suit seemed to have been made with combat in mind. Once the last of the suit seals were in place she picked up the visor again and replaced her own with the new one. As soon as it was locked in place, a heads up display appeared.

_'Hmm that could be quite useful. I'll have to remember to thank Louis after this mission.' _Tali mused as she watched the display pull up her own vitals and suit integrity levels.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile Captain Hannah Shepard stepped out of the home of the district leader. None of the colonists she and her men had talked to had no clue what was going on. In fact most of them were just distrustful of any of the marines and herself especially. She didn't blame them, most colonists often leave council space to get away from the Alliance. To them their way of life was more important than the safety of the galactic community. She liked the colony though, it was so much nicer than some of the colonies she visited and it was definitely more peaceful then the bustle of the metropolis back on Earth. Even though the large estate that they owned back on Earth was far from the cities, Hannah had always had a deep fascination with space. Feeling tired she sat down and pulled out a bottle of non-recycled water and took several sips before replacing the cap.<p>

The silence that she was enjoying was quickly broken by gunfire. Alert, she stood up and drew her M-4 Shuriken. Several of the marines that were nearby were rushing into cover as they tried to make out what was going on over the radio.

"Lieutenant Tanner! Whats going on?" Hannah shouted as she ran towards one of her marines.

"I don't know ma'am! One of my squads is under fire!" Tanner shouted. "X-Ray! Give me a sit-rep! Over."

"_We've been engaged. I've got two men wounded, one critical. Requesting immediate support! Over!." _Came the response with the sound of gunfire in the background.

"Identify the enemy! What's the size of their force? Over."

"_Batarians ma'am! Near platoon strength. Over!"_

"You heard them lieutenant. Get your men set for a counter offensive. We need to buy the colonists some time to evac the district before we have any more casualties."

The lieutenant nodded briskly and gave a few hand motions to her marines and they dispersed among the prefab buildings. While Tanner called in one of her other squads to circle about to support the besieged marines, Hannah sent her own orders to the Orizaba, telling them to send in more marines, hopefully taking the batarians by surprise. As soon as she relayed the message she saw a group of batarian troopers rush around the corner. She quickly ducked as soon while Tanner opened fire, narrowly dodging the shots from the enemy.

_'They better get here in time, or we're finished down here.'_ She thought as she nailed a trooper in the head. The trooper hit the ground with a dull thump and a puddle of blood began to seep into the ground.

* * *

><p>The Normandy warped into the system and quickly oriented towards Horizon.<p>

"Stealth systems engaged. Contact with the battle group in five minutes." EDI chimed.

"Thanks EDI. Open up a comm channel to the Orizaba."

"This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy. Can we provide assistance?"

"Thank the Maker! Commander Shepard, this is lieutenant commander Richmond. Your help will be greatly appreciated!"

"What's the situation?"

"We're engaging the batarian flagship. Shields are down to sixty-four percent. GARDIAN defenses are overwhelmed, they have some sort of counter measure. The Paris is venting atmosphere and down for the count. The Condcord and Lexington are pursuing one of the cruisers. Berlin currently engaged with two other cruisers."

"Joker plot a intercept course to the cruisers attacking the Berlin! Prepare to fire the Thanix."

"Aye aye! Hold on to your hats, this is gonna be rough!"

The Normandy quickly swooped in towards one of the bulbous cruisers giving chase to the Berlin. One of them turned away from the Berlin to engage the Normandy. It presented its gleaming port guns and were charging their weapons.

"Fire the main gun!"

A blinding blue beam pierced the dark space and streaked towards the enemy cruiser. The cruiser attempted to maneuver but was struck aft of where the drive core would have been located. The resulting explosion was muffled in the vacuum as pieces of debris went hurtling into the cold void. Some distance away another one of the batarian cruisers took a direct hit from a volley of disruptor torpedoes from the Orizaba and was obliterated.

Realizing that two of their ships had been destroyed, the one pursuing the Berlin immediately changed course and along with the other cruiser being pursued by the frigates they both made the jump away from the system.

"Cowards." Shepard muttered.

"Commander. The Orizaba is hailing us." Joker called out.

"Patch them through Joker."

"Thank you for the assist commander. After those batarian bastards launched a surprise volley on the Paris I thought we would be done for." Richmond's voice betrayed a sense of relief.

"Where's your CO?" Shepard asked.

"The captain went down to district eight with a marine detachment. Apparently the batarians launched a surprise invasion after they took out the Paris. We just got a message from her to send immediate reinforcements."

"Rally the rest of your battle group. We don't know if the batarians are regrouping or gone for good. Search for survivors from the Paris. We'll take care of the ground op."

"We'll get it done. Again, thank you commander. I'll send help as soon as I can." Richmond promised before ending the comm link.

Shepard quickly turned and jogged towards the elevator. Before he pressed the button to head down to the cargo hold he called out to EDI.

"EDI. Tell the team to meet in the cargo hold. We're going to find out why the batarians attacked."

**That's all for now. I hoped that you enjoyed this chapter. Like I said I might work on the next chapter while I'm on vacation, but no promises. Looking forward to seeing you all in the next one! Have a happy holiday everybody!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everybody! Hope everybody is enjoying the holidays, anyhow big round of thanks to everyone who has been reading. After much debating on my part, I decided to follow through on my idea of writing another chapter. Well I won't keep you waiting any longer, enjoy!**

Chapter Seven

The last of the batarian troopers fell face forward as one of the marines slammed the butt of his rifle into his back. The batarian was quickly restrained and placed inside of a deserted prefab with one of Hannah's guard detail keeping a close eye on their prisoner. Despite their own general dislike of batarians, Hannah wasn't going to have any of her marines become a self appointed executioner.

She had briefly interrogated the captured trooper and gained nothing from it. Most batarians would usually say the usual anti-human propaganda or something of the like, but this one did not even say a word and only glared at her. Deciding that she wasn't going to get anything out of their prisoner right now, she was going to have the batarian taken in so that the Alliance could question him.

She exited the building and surveyed the carnage. Gunfire had pockmarked every single one of the prefabs, the marines had dragged the all of the dead troopers over to the side and blood began to pool around the ghastly pile. Every now and then she could hear sporadic gunfire as the two other squads secured the district's perimeter.

Tanner quickly joined the captain as she saw her walk out of the building. This was supposed to be a simple investigation, but it turned out to be more of an ambush. Hannah had her own suspicions of why the brass would send their battle group on something so trivial. But she had her orders, and she would focus on them and let the brass and the spooks take care of the details.

"How's your men doing?" Hannah said as she watched some of the few men with her gather around the building they were using as a temporary headquarters.

"Well enough. Only wounded we have are the two from X-Ray. Charleston got shot in the leg but hes doing fine. Watson took a shot to the chest, barely hit his heart. We filled him up with some medi-gel but if we don't get him some medical attention, he might bleed out." Tanner spoke quietly, her face grim.

Hannah nodded. She knew what it was like when someone under your command was injured. You start to feel guilty, and blame yourself even though you knew there wasn't anything you could do about it. But she had learn to put the mission first before she dealt with those feelings.

"Status on the enemy?"

"They retreated about two miles from here. We got all of the civilians in one of the emergency bunkers, so they should be safe for now. X-Ray and Lima are doing rotating sweeps to make sure those blinks don't get in here."

Hannah was about to speak again when her comm attracted her attention. It was from her ship. She quickly opened up the channel and responded.

"Richmond? Is that you?"

"Captain! It's good to hear your voice again!" Richmond exclaimed.

"Whats the picture look like up there?"

"It's bad ma'am. The Paris is disabled and the Berlin took a few hits herself but their holding together. Rest of the battle group took a few minor hits but we've pulled through. We're picking up some of the escape pods from the Paris. So far everybody is accounted for."

Hannah let out a sigh of relief. When she had contacted the Orizaba, she had learned about the batarian cruisers in orbit.

"Did you send another marine detachment yet? I have some wounded down here, and we need to remove the rest of the batarians from the colony before we leave to make the jump back to Arcturus."

"Not yet ma'am, but I've got them scrambling to head down there. But your son is on his way right now."

"What do you mean?" Hannah asked in confusion as she heard Richmond's response.

"The Normandy apparently caught our distress signal and helped us engage the cruisers. If it wasn't for your son, I'm sure we would have lost many good men and women. He's heading down there with his ground team and he should be arriving soon."

The comm channel suddenly broke into static as Hannah was about to ask how her son had even known they were here. She pressed the transmitter button several times and swore silently to herself as she only received more static.

"Tanner! What happened to our communications?" Hannah asked as she watched her lieutenant fiddling with the radio.

"I don't know ma'am. Blinks must have a jammer somewhere near us. I can't raise any of the other squads!" Tanner replied as she threw her radio aside in frustration and ordered two of her men to find the other squads and tell them to regroup.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Shepard was standing in the cramped compartment of the shuttle as they rocketed towards the last known location of his mother's landing party. The whole team sat silently as each of them pondered what was going to happen. It wasn't long before Shepard heard EDI's voice.<p>

"Shepard. I have detected three jamming beacons surrounding the district that the captain is in. Sending you the coordinates now. Be advised you will be unable to open a comm link while in the radius of those beacons.

"Thanks for the update EDI"

Shepard thought about what course of action he ought to take. The best course would be to split the ground team in to four different groups.

Turning back to his team he cleared his throat, "Alright, you've heard what's going on down there. We're going to head down there and see why the batarians have taken a sudden interest in invading a colony."

"We will split up. The batarians apparently have several jammers to prevent anyone from finding out what's exactly going on down there. We are going to hit all three of those jammers. Most likely there is going to be resistance at each one. We also need to find out if the marines sent down there are still alive, so we will have to find them as well."

"Understood commander. Who will be in each team?" Miranda asked.

"Tali, Legion, your with me. Garrus take Kasumi and Samara to the second beacon. Jacob, take Jack and Thane and hit the last one. Miranda I want you to take the others and find the captain and her men. As soon as those beacons are down we will link up and wait for the Orizaba to send in a ground force to mop up."

Everybody nodded and knew what to do. Hopefully if they moved quickly, they could catch the batarians by surprise and disable the beacons in short order. The shuttle changed course and quickly touched down just outside of the district behind what seemed to be a warehouse. As soon as everyone piled out, the shuttle lifted off and made its way back to the Normandy.

The team quickly dispersed among the buildings as they proceeded cautiously towards their objectives. Shepard quickly led the way around the outskirts of the district with Tali and Legion following. It wasn't long before the trio arrived at a ridge overlooking a small depression. Shepard quickly pulled out his Incisor and zoomed in on their target. There were at least fifteen troopers keeping watch over the beacon, and to make things worse there was YMIR mech right in the center.

He motioned for Legion to come closer.

"Legion, I need you to hack that mech. We can't risk a firefight that will draw attention to us."

"We will rewrite the mech in order to incapacitate the enemy."

"Good. Me and Tali are going to get closer to the beacon. Once you hack that mech starting taking out as many of the troopers you can."

"Affirmative." Legion announced.

Several minutes later Tali and Shepard were laying flat several feet away from where the ground began to descend. Without their comms, all of this would depend on their timing. Tali had pulled out her shotgun and was watching the mech intently. As soon as that mech began to fire on the guards, the two of them would make their move.

She watched as Shepard pull out his Revenant and fiddled with the side of the gun until a small indicator flashed to warp ammo. Personally she thought that it was such an unwieldy weapon, but she had seen Shepard obliterate entire groups of enemies with it. Factor in his own reflexes and the warp, it was like watching a lightning storm that struck with deadly accuracy .

Suddenly the mech was turning, several of the batarians turned around in surprised as they saw it open fire on them. The sharp crack of Legion's Widow was unmistakable as it sheared a helmet in two. Shepard was already up and running towards the beacon, hailing a unrelenting barrage on the remaining troopers. Tali quickly followed suit, occasionally snapping her Eviscerator up and pumping a round into one of the troopers she ran past.

By the time they were twenty feet away from the beacon, only three troopers remained. They had taken cover behind several crates and were poping up now and then shooting at their rogue mech. Tali quickly tapped her omnitool and sent Chiktikka after the troopers. Before they knew what had happened, the drone was already in their midst and exploded, sending them sprawling to the ground.

Shepard quickly dispatched them with a few well placed shots, and motioned for Tali to head towards the beacon as he kept watch. As she worked on shutting the beacon off, Legion had left the ridge and made it's way towards them. Shepard ripped the power cell out of the mech and tossed it aside so that the mech wouldn't be a problem to them. He quickly policed the bodies and dragged them behind a truck.

"It's done! Beacon is offline!" Tali shouted as the beacon powered down.

"Good. That's one down. Let's hope the others finish quickly. We'll head back to the district and see if they need any help."

Turning away for a moment Shepard tried to contact the others. He mostly received static but heard snatches of the other teams progress. Not knowing if they would hear him he tried anyway.

"This is Shepard. Beacon one is down. We are headed back to the district."

* * *

><p>"One less to worry about." Garrus whispered to himself as another trooper fell. The first shot had struck him in the chest causing the trooper's shield to fail before another round put him down.<p>

Samara had quickly subdued several of the troopers simultaneously. Garrus had watched as she drained the life force out of them before they grew limp and died. Kasumi had cloaked before Garrus could have told her to get the beacon. There were several times when he had one of the guards in his scope before they were just knocked to the ground almost as if they were hit by a krogan. As soon as he confirmed the beacon was disabled he heard a garbled transmission.

"_... .. Shepard. Beacon ... .. down. .. ... …... back .. ... district." _

Waving to the others, they quickly regrouped and headed to the district. It wouldn't be long until Jacob's group took out the last one, and that would mean the batarians would figure out something was wrong.

* * *

><p>Hannah watched as the other marines arrived. They had all taken various positions surrounding the prefab with their prisoner inside. Several of the marines had climbed up top and were scanning the area with their rifles. Tanner had sent several of her men to place a few traps around the perimeter. There was no telling what the batarians were up to.<p>

"Ma'am. We've got movement. Looks like a krogan, a really big one too." One of the snipers notified Hannah.

"Don't fire unless they do." Hannah instructed. While she didn't know if there were any krogans with the batarians, she wasn't going to take a chance.

It wasn't long until she saw the krogan for herself. Saying that he was big was a real understatement. He seemed to be roughly a fifth larger than that of an average krogan. The armor that he wore only made him look more intimidating with his dual visors. In a way he looked almost like a mechanized version of a krogan. She noted that the unknown krogan was not alone. There were three others following it, each one moving professionally from cover to cover.

They stopped about forty feet away from the marines. None of the marines moved, but they didn't let their sights leave the new arrivals. They saw someone wave from behind a crate.

"Are you captain Shepard?" A proper feminine voice shouted. The voice had belonged to the female wearing black armor.

"Identify yourselves!" Hannah shouted back.

"Miranda Lawson, executive officer of the Normandy."

Hannah gave Tanner a quick nod who in turn signaled for the other marines to let the four approach.

Hannah quickly scanned the small group. There was the large krogan, the woman who claimed to be apart of the Normandy, another human who looked like he should have been in the VAO, and a scarred salarian.

"Pleasure to meet you captain. I wish that we could have met under more pleasant circumstances." Miranda smiled as she extended her hand, her glowing visor dissappearing as she took in the state of the marines.

"The pleasure is mine. I was told that my son came down here with his ground team. I'm assuming that you are with them." Hannah replied as she shook Miranda's hand.

"Yes. Shepard had split the team into four and the others went out to disable the jammers. They should be close to finishing by now. I had just received a partial message from him."

Everybody jumped when they heard Grunt roar as he charged into an alleyway. Hannah had no idea what the krogan was up to.

"Zaeed follow Grunt before he does something we might regret, Mordin see to the wounded." Miranda ordered.

Zaeed quickly took off after Grunt with a few colorful choice words while Mordin rushed to where the marines had taken their wounded.

"Is he going to be alright following your krogan alone?" Hannah asked in worried tone.

"He will be fine. In the mean time we are going to hold our positions until the rest of the team gets here."

* * *

><p>The empty buildings were unnerving. It reminded Shepard of the last time he was on this colony. The people here had it hard enough with their colony efforts, let alone having collectors drop in on them and abducting them and now this. He shook his head as he took cover and leaned his head out to see if the coast was clear.<p>

Tali and Legion silently moved ahead of him as he covered them. Legion had taken point moving silently from cover to cover. Tali followed after Legion while keeping an eye on the side alleys they passed. Shepard couldn't help but admire Tali's movement. The new suit looked amazing on her. She reminded him of a weapon. Sleek and deadly. He quickly pushed the thought to the back of his mind. There would be plenty of time for that later.

The trio steadily made their way to the center of the district. It seemed the most logical place to start looking. As he moved ahead of the others he heard several footsteps around the corner. He raised his hand in the air and signaled for the others to wait. He slowly crept closer to the source of the noise with his gun at the ready.

He counted to three before quickly bursting from his cover and to his surprise he found himself pointing his gun at Garrus. Shepard relaxed his grip and lowered his weapon.

"Why can't we ever go anywhere nice Shepard? Last time we were here I was being shot at." Garrus laughed as he relaxed as well.

"Well kinda hard not to point a gun at something like that when I see your face flying out at me from the shadows." Shepard grinned at his friend.

Growing serious again Shepard asked, "Did you hear from Jacob's team yet?"

"No, but I'm sure they're almost finished by now."

"Let's move out then." Shepard said as he motioned for Legion to move ahead. Garrus took his team a different route to the center of the district to minimize the chances of being seen.

It was only a few minutes after linking up with Garrus that Shepard heard his comm.

"_Commander. This is Jacob, we've got the beacon. We're headed back right now. Orders?"_

_"_Any trouble?"

_"Nothing we couldn't handle."_

"Meet us in the center. We're gonna regroup and wait for the Orizaba's reinforcements. As soon as they arrive, we'll call the shuttle for a pick up."

"_Copy that commander."_

Shepard sped up a bit. With the jammers down they could communicate again, but that would mean that any of the batarians left would know that the beacons were down.

* * *

><p>A trooper was thrown face first to the ground as Zaeed and Grunt returned. Having lost his weapons, he scrambled away from Grunt until he was up against a wall. Grunt kept his Claymore trained on the trooper as Zaeed ambled over to Miranda.<p>

"We caught this bastard trying to leave the district. Probably was going to report back to the son of a bitch running the show," Zaeed nodded towards the frightened trooper before continuing, "Didn't take much for him to start talking though, apparently they were getting ready to make another push back in to the district."

"Good work. The comms are back up, so the other teams must be coming back soon."

"What about the bloody reinforcements?"

"We'll have to hold out for another forty minutes before we head back to the ship."

"Good. Was afraid we were going to walk away from a perfectly good fight." Zaeed grinned as he wandered off.

"_Miranda. This is Garrus. We see you from our position, coming to you now."_

Miranda quickly signaled for the others to lower their weapons as Garrus's team arrived. Jacob's group arrived just after that. The only team they were waiting for was Shepard's.

Miranda was just about to contact Shepard when Jacob caught her attention. He quietly indicated for her to look where he was pointing. Although somewhat obscure through several windows, she saw a squad of troopers.

* * *

><p>It took Shepard's team ten minutes to get back to the others. They had run into several squads of batarians along the way and had eliminated each one before continuing. As soon as he arrived he was already assigning positions to his team. He saw his mother briefly but didn't say anything. There would be time later, assuming that Richmond stayed true to his word and reinforcements arrived on time.<p>

Not one moment after he had taken up his own position near the front he heard the shouts of the batarians. They came from all sides in waves, constantly battering at their positions with desperate strength. Although he had estimated the batarians were near platoon strength, it felt more like an entire company had been dropped on them.

The sound of snipers crackled every few seconds as their owners found targets. Loose dirt showered them every now and then when a grenade detonated nearby, and the constant chatter of automatics kept them company. While the enemy remained fresh with more troops, the combined force of Shepard's team and the marine force of the Orizaba had to fall back closer to the plaza.

Shepard was the last to fall back, he watched as several troopers vault over the cover he was just using. Other troopers began to climb over the defenses around them as they slowly advanced. With a quick flourish, he pressed down on the detonator that Tanner had given him. The marines had buried several explosives around the perimeter in case they got overrun. As he ran back to the next available cover, he felt the ripple of the detonations and the sound of screaming.

As soon as he cleared the area, he saw that several other marines had been injured during the fight. They were carried back closer to the center where the shuttles would touch down. Although injured, some of the marines took up positions as best as they could from the center.

Each minute had gone by excruciatingly slow as Shepard fell into a trance: aim, shoot, reload, rinse and repeat. Eventually he was down to a few clips, he began firing in shorter bursts. Several of the others shouted that they were out and were resorting to other means to keep the enemy at bay. Several marines who ran out of clips began using their weapons as clubs or engaged in hand to hand with any batarians who came close.

Similarly when the rest of the team started to run out of ammo they resorted to tech, biotics, and physical means to hold back the tide. He was vaguely aware of Jack knocking aside dozens of troopers with a shockwave. Jacob had lifted several troopers into the air while Miranda took the chance to slam them down with such force that it sounded like he had heard the bones break. Zaeed had burned a group of troopers to a crisp when he chucked his inferno grenade close to thirty feet away.

Just as he loaded his last clip he saw the shuttles. Normally he wasn't really a religious person but the seven shuttles racing towards them was the most beautiful thing he saw at that moment. The shuttles, including their own, landed with a thud and he saw marines emerge. The timely arrival of their reinforcements quickly turned the tide of the battle. As they fanned out and pursued the fleeing troopers, some of the marines began pulling the wounded into the waiting shuttles.

Shepard shouted for his team to board the shuttle, as he watched the last of the original marine ground team and his mother board the final shuttle. Everyone ran to the shuttle and began using what was left of their ammo to cover the rest. Tali had just reached the pad when she saw a flash. The flash turned out to be a rocket streaking towards her. Panicking, she had just froze. Before she could react, Shepard shoved her aside and into the shuttle. The rocket impacted Shepard's already weakened shields and tossed him several feet away from the shuttle.

"NO!" Tali cried out in anguish, as she saw Shepard hit the ground.

She ran towards him as fast as she could. She didn't care if she had gotten hurt in the process. In her mind she kept telling herself that everything would be okay but as she got closer to Shepard she only felt dread clutching at her.

"COVER US!" Garrus shouted as he ran to his friend.

Together Garrus and Tali carried Shepard back to the shuttle. Tali felt tears rolling down her face. Her mind began to rebel at the idea of losing Shepard. She didn't want to relive those dark days after Shepard had died, not again.

As soon as they secured the commander as best they could, the shuttle took off. Miranda quickly called the Normandy to prep the medbay, as most of the team stood in shock. Garrus tried to stop the bleeding with medi-gel but Shepard was losing a lot of blood and had fallen unconscious. Tali shook uncontrollably as she cried. She looked at her hands, they were covered in blood and she felt a red haze take hold of her. She began screaming. Kasumi, Garrus, and Grunt strained to keep her from hurting herself as the shuttle left the colony.

**Well there you have it. Hope you enjoyed reading this as I have enjoyed coming up with it. I'll see you all in the next one! Until then happy holidays!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey there folks hope everybody had a great new year. Anyway I'm back with another chapter for all of you. Hope you have been enjoying the story so far. Just a quick chapter for you all while I work on the next one. Anyhow you probably didn't come here to listen to me ramble so enjoy!**

Chapter Eight

The shuttle quickly entered the cargo hold and immediately landed. As soon as the hatach opened, several of the crewmen ran towards the shuttle with a stretcher. Garrus and Jacob carefully lifted Shepard on to the stretcher before he was rushed off to the elevator. Tali, Garrus, Kasumi and Mordin followed along as they all made their way to the elevator.

As soon as the door opened Hawthorne and Goldstein quickly rushed the commander into the med-bay along with Mordin. Dr. Chakwas was bustling about the med-bay gathering anything that they would need, a worried expression on her face. The crew immediately left and Tali was about to enter but Chakwas stood in front of her and shook her head.

"Tali, I'm sorry but you will have to wait outside. You will only be in the way while we are treating Shepard."

"But I-" Tali started before the doors sealed in front of her. She cast one last glance at Shepard through the window. She wasn't sure but she thought that Shepard had turned his head in her direction before the windows darkened to keep people from watching.

"He'll be alright Tali." Garrus said as he tried to console his friend.

"But, it's not right! He shouldn't have gotten hurt. If I hadn't panicked, he would have been fine." Tali shouted as she blamed herself.

"Don't worry about him Tali. He's a strong person." Kasumi whispered as she placed a hand on Tali's shoulder.

"You should get some rest. We''ll let you know when Chakwas and Mordin are done." Garrus added as he gave a quick glance to the door.

Still crying, Tali only nodded her head and allowed Kasumi to guide her up to the cabin.

* * *

><p>Several hours passed by and still Tali did not hear any word concerning Shepard. Deep down she knew that he would be alright, but she still couldn't help but worry for him. She didn't even bothered going back down to engineering. She trusted that the others could handle themselves down there without her. Tali averted her eyes when she saw the picture of her and Shepard on his desk. She wanted nothing more than to have Shepard hold her in his arms.<p>

Eventually she fell unceremoniously on the couch and the only companion with her was silence. Tali tried to close her eyes several times, the mixture of exhaustion and concern was wearing her down. It was far from restful for her though, each time she closed her eyes she constantly relived the moment she saw Shepard take the hit for her.

The sound of the door sliding open immediately caused Tali to jump. Hoping that it was Shepard, she planned to throw herself on him and wrap him in a long embrace. Before she could do anything, she stopped in surprise. Standing at the threshold of the cabin was Hannah Shepard.

_'Oh keelah. It's Shepard's mother! What is she doing here? What should I say?' _Tali quickly thought to herself.

Tali had briefly seen the captain while on Horizon. She didn't pay much attention at the time because of the batarians, but now she studied her in greater detail. Hannah, now free of the soot and grime from their troubles on the colony, was beautiful. Her long black hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and she had delicate facial features that gave the picture of eternal youth. Unlike most human women she had ever known or seen, Hannah did not use much makeup, no doubt because of her military career.

One thing Tali did take note of was her eyes, like Shepard, she had the same brown eyes that had fire and determination in them. Aside from that, Shepard must have looked more like his father. She felt a touch of envy, she had only seen the faces of her parents when she was a child. But now that she was older, she didn't even know who she resembled more, and she would never know.

"You must be Tali'Zorah, correct?" Hannah asked, a warm smile gracing her face.

"Yes. Erm you must be captain Hannah Shepard." This would be the first time Tali had ever spoken to Shepard's family, and she wanted to make a good impression. She concentrated on keeping her hands still.

"Please call me Hannah."

Tali nodded and watched as Hannah looked around the cabin, appraising its contents. Her eyes briefly settled on the picture of Tali and Shepard together. Tali felt somewhat embarrassed. Shepard had said that his mother might have known about them but he didn't know for sure. Tali could only hope that Hannah at least approved of them being together.

"Ummm, please have a seat." Tali offered as she gestured to the couch, wishing that Shepard were here to keep her from embarrassing herself further.

The two of them sat down and silence once again filled the cabin. This had to be one of the most awkward moments Tali found herself in. It could have been worse though. At least the surprise visit didn't involve Hannah walking in on Shepard and her when they were feeling intimate with one another.

Finally Hannah broke the silence, "There's no need to feel shy Tali, speak freely. I'll start first shall we? I've heard a great deal about the crew my son is so proud of, especially you."

"Louis speaks of you highly as well capt- umm Hannah." Tali replied.

"I'm quite curious. How long have the two of you been together? Was it when you joined the first Normandy?"

"Well no not exactly. We've only been together just over a month now. I did have feelings for him back on the old Normandy but I didn't know whether it was appropriate to act upon them. It wasn't until recently that I found out the he felt the same way."

"So you love him then?"

The question was simple and Tali didn't hesitate to answer it, "He's the only one I ever felt that I could trust. When we first met, he treated me like an equal. He's everything I had hoped for and more. I just never imagined him seeing me as more than a friend. I'm glad that I was wrong."

"When we lost him two years ago, it was like I lost a part of myself. I know you must have felt that way, maybe even worse than I did. When I saw him again, I couldn't believe what I saw. Deep down I wanted to tell him how I felt, but a part of me was afraid that he wouldn't accept me. Even though I know he cares for me, sometimes I just feel as if I'm being selfish. He could have any women in the entire galaxy."

"You don't seem like the kind of person who would seem selfish. From what I have heard, you are one of the most selfless person Louis has known. I'm quite sure that he would never choose anyone over you."

"Thank you." Tali replied uncertainly. Her earlier concern for Shepard returning in full force.

"I know what happened to him as we were leaving the colony. I'm worried for him as well but hes a fighter, he'll make it through. If anything I think there is no clearer way for him to prove how important you are to him." Hannah added as she noticed the young women's change in body language. Her sudden outpouring helped Hannah confirm her hunches.

Hannah's words had done more than comforted Tali. The steel in her voice reminded her of Shepard whenever he spoke. It was obvious that they shared many of the same qualities. It was also nice to know that she approved of her relationship with Shepard.

Now that Tali was more comfortable in Hannah's presence, they began to talk in a more open manner. Tali began to tell Hannah a little more about herself, while Hannah did likewise. She found out that Hannah was born and raised on a star ship as well and entered the military at the age of nineteen. Tali eagerly listened whenever Hannah recounted several stories of when Shepard was a child.

Tali had often asked Shepard about his childhood as well as the earlier part of his military career. Every time she did, Shepard grew silent and told her that he would tell her some other time. She did hear snatches of his childhood every now and then, but usually only when he was joking around or teasing her.

"He was such an energetic boy. Whenever I brought him along the tours of duty I served on he would spend most of his time running around the mess halls. I can still remember when he would try to race through doors as they were closing. There we're a few kids that he would play with but we rarely stayed on the same ship."

"It must have been hard for him, leaving his friends behind I mean." Tali commented. It was nice to know that they had similar childhoods, albeit hers was spent in a bubble.

"Yes, it was tough for him but he knew that I didn't really have a choice."

"Where was his father at the time?"

"Alex was usually busy. As the commanding officer of the N7 division, he took his work very seriously and rarely spent time with Louis. They aren't necessarily close but they get along, civilly at least." Hannah explained.

"I understand. My father was always busy with his projects. I never really had a chance to bond with him. I know that being an admiral was a demanding task for him but he was always absorbed by his work. Its almost as if he never wanted to spend time with me."

"I'm sure he does care for you. Maybe once he finishes his work, he will be able to bond with you more often."

"He died several weeks ago." Tali replied as she remembered those painful memories.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

"It's okay."

"What happened to him?" Hannah asked.

Tali wondered if she should tell Hannah about what happened. Knowing the admirals though, they would probably say that she was passing on confidential information.

"Well, I can't really give you the specifics but I can tell you that my father and the crew of one of our ships were all killed when his experiments went horribly wrong."

"It was because of his experiments that some of the admirals had me tried for treason and wanted me exiled. I was so scared at the time, I didn't know why I was being accused of treason or what happened to my father. When they told me he was killed during my trial I just... I..."

Hannah quickly pulled the young quarian into her arms as she heard Tali crying, her body visibly shaking as her bottled up emotions surfaced. She regretted asking the question but her curiosity got the better of her.

Tali hiccuped a few times before she could continue, "It wasn't until we got to the bridge of the lab ship that we found out what had happened. My father deliberately sped up the pace of his experiment in an attempt to find a way to take back our home world."

"What happened next? Did you tell the admirals what happened?" Hannah asked as she consoled Tali.

"No, I couldn't. I didn't want my father to become a war criminal among my people. Louis was there with me when I found out. I begged him not to show the evidence to the admirals."

"When we got back. I expected that I would have been exiled. Louis had kept his promise and didn't tell the admirals but I was surprised how he defended me. I have never had anyone argue for me the way he did, he even accused the admirals of using the trial as an excuse to further their own political agenda." Tali gave a weak laugh. She rembered how Shepard had chastened the admirals.

"Louis practically tore them apart when he said that I showed him the value of my people."

"I'm glad that they didn't exile you. I may not have known you as long as my son has, but talking with you makes me grateful they didn't. It's funny that it takes someone lower down the chain to talk some sense into those in command."

Hannah's omnitool flashed into existence and she glanced at it and frowned. Letting go of Tali, she stood up and straightened her uniform.

"I'd love to stay and get to know you more but my crew needs me."

"I understand. It was nice being able to talk to you and I'm sorry if I got somewhat emotional." Tali wrung her hands slightly.

"It was nice meeting you as well and don't worry about it Tali. I know that you went through a lot. Besides its good that Louis has found a nice girl that cares for him. It gives him stability." Hannah said as she gave a reassuring smile before strolling to the door with Tali following.

Before Hannah left though, she turned to Tali and said, "Take care of him Tali. He's been through a lot and it's changed him. No matter how strong and determined he is, it's not enough. You gave him what he needs though; something worth fighting for. A man always fights harder when he knows that its worth it."

Hannah gently pulled Tali into a hug, which after some hesitation Tali returned the gesture. She watched as the captain entered the elevator and disappear as the doors closed. Tali pondered what Hannah had told her as she picked up the holo of Shepard and herself before she laid down on the bed.

_'Something worth fighting for.' _was her last thoughts before she finally slipped into sleep holding the holo close to her chest.

* * *

><p>During the time that Hannah and Tali had their conversation, Garrus was standing in front of his console tapping several of the buttons growing more frustrated each minute.<p>

"Damn it!" Garrus swore as his simulation failed to produce the results he wanted.

He couldn't concentrate on his calibrations. His best friend was in the med-bay, and he couldn't do anything to help. Garrus could only imagine what Tali was going through. The feeling of hopelessness reminded him of the private funeral for Shepard two years ago. The survivors of the original crew had all attended as well as some other people who knew Shepard. A part of everyone had died that day.

Shepard had been more than a mentor for Garrus. Throughout their time hunting for Saren, Shepard had constantly given him new perspectives that he would otherwise have ignored. Even when Garrus had found Dr. Saleon, Shepard had insisted on taking him in rather than kill him. They still ended up killing the crazed salarian though. Although Shepard had often cautioned him from taking any rash actions, he did say that sometimes doing the extreme is the only way to go after they had stolen the Normandy from lockdown.

_'Never a dull moment with you Shepard.'_

Garrus sighed and backed away from his console. His calibrations could wait for once he thought. The mess hall was almost deserted, those that were there were only getting something to eat before returning back to duty. He grabbed some food on the way to the table in the mess hall. He tore the packaging off and bit off a chunk of the dextro equivalent of a human's sandwich.

Kasumi was sitting across the table, her eyes closed. The two of them had taken turns sitting in the mess waiting to hear from either Mordin or Chakwas. There really wasn't much for the crew to attend to right now. The Normandy was scanning the area around Horizon along with the other Alliance ships to make sure there was no more batarian ships in the area as well as searching for any survivors.

Kasumi stirred as she heard the noise of Garrus eating. She yawned as she leaned back in her seat before addressing Garrus.

"Hey there Gary. How long have you been sitting there?"

Garrus shook his head when Kasumi called him that. She had started to call him that a few days ago, and when he asked why, Kasumi had only shrugged and said that he reminded her of her old cat.

"Just a minute or two."

"Good, because I was gonna say that its kinda creepy you were watching me while I sleep." Kasumi grinned.

Garrus laughed at the thought of Kasumi being creeped out. Gesturing to the med-bay he asked, "Any word on how Shepard's doing?"

"No. I'm sure that he'll be alright though. I hope they will tell us soon though. The wait is killing me and Tali must be feeling terrible right now."

"Yeah. I hope they tell us soon."

* * *

><p>Another half hour went by before Chakwas had came out of the med-bay. She looked haggard but she seemed calm enough. When Kasumi and Garrus had asked her how Shepard was doing she gave them a tired smile.<p>

"He's lost alot of blood and has a fractured rib, but he'll be alright after some rest. Mordin is taking care of the blood transfusions right now. Give it another hour before visiting him."

The two of the gave a sigh of relief. Hearing that Shepard was alright broke the tension that has gripped everybody on board.

"Should I go tell Tali?" Kasumi asked.

"No, I think we should let her get some rest. We'll wait until Mordin is done in there." Garrus replied.

The two of them quickly fell silent when they saw the person that could only be Shepard's mother approaching them.

Hannah had intended to go back to her ship immediately but ultimately decided to see if Shepard was doing better. She was worried but she knew that he wouldn't let something like this stop him. Not with someone like Tali waiting for him.

She recognized the two members of the ground team in front of the med-bay. She gave them a curt nod and after receiving a go ahead from the doctor, Hannah entered the med-bay.

"Ah yes, Captain Shepard. Expected you to come. Son is in stable condition, well enough to talk. Will be outside if you need anything."

"Thank you very much Doctor Solus." Hannah said as she tried to recall his name.

"Please call me Mordin. No thanks required, happy to help." With that Mordin quickly strolled out of the room.

Shepard tried to sit up but Hannah shook her head and indicated for him to stay as he was.

"How are you doing Louis?"

"Fine. Mordin said that I should be able to do some light duty once the transfusions are done."

"I wanted to thank you for coming. I don't want to think what might have happened if it weren't for you and your crew."

"It's nothing mom." Shepard paused as he thought about what to say. Aside from a few messages, he hadn't talked to his mother in almost two years.

"So what brings you to the Normandy?"

"I heard about what happened after we left the colony. I was worried for you. Since the doctors were with you most of the time I gave myself a quick tour of the ship and had a lovely chat with Tali."

Shepard nearly bolted upright at the mention of Tali.

"Is she alright? Was she hurt?"

"Shes fine. Just a little shook up about you taking the hit for her. I can tell why you fell for her. I like her. She reminds me of Tanya."

"Mom. Please don't bring that up." Shepard muttered as he looked down.

"I'm sorry. But you need to let it go. It wasn't your fault and you know it. At the very least talk about it with Tali. You'll feel better and to be quite frank you need to tell her more about yourself."

Shepard looked at his mother with a confused face. He wondered how much the two of them actually discussed while he was out. He got his answer without a chance to even counter his mother.

"From what I've gathered from my little chat with her, she has told you almost everything about her and close to nothing about you before she met you. She wants to know more of your past. I know it's hard to talk about it, but trust me. She deserves to know."

"I'll think about it."

"Good. Please try to write more often, perhaps Tali could remind you to write more. Be good to her Louis. Stay safe out there." Hannah instructed before she left Shepard alone in the med-bay with his thoughts.

* * *

><p>As soon as the Alliance battle group formed up, they oriented themselves towards the relay with the Normandy taking the lead. The Normandy would be returning to the Citadel to wait for their next move while the battle group returned to headquarters. With all the survivors and ground teams accounted for, there was no reason for to remain in the system.<p>

An Alliance patrol would be assigned to that sector to ensure that the colony was not attacked again. Not far from the relay however was a ship. This ship was no bigger than a fighter but it was certainly no derelict. It had observed the battle with purpose and relayed its findings to its point of origin.

At that moment in an undisclosed location, a dark figure reclined in his chair and examined the new information feed in front of him with mild interest. Each operation was carefully planned, slowly pushing all the pieces into position. All of that was ruined when he put his faith into Shepard. Billions of credits lost as well as several of the shell companies that funded Cerberus. All because of the information Shepard had handed over to the Alliance. This did not deter to Illusive man however.

The sound of one of his operatives appearing behind him made him shift his attention to the new arrival.

"Operative Leng. Have you completed your task?"

"Yes. The batarians responded to the loss of one of their scout ships as did the Alliance."

"And the status of our own forces?"

"They are being equipped as we speak. We will be ready at a moments notice if they are needed."

"Good. We'll continue to widen the gap between the Alliance and the Hegemony. As long as they are unaware of our intentions, we will have control over both."

After taking a long drag from his cigarette he continued, "I have a new assignment for you. I want you to find Shepard. Capture him if possible, and if you can't, eliminate him. As always you are a valuable asset to Cerberus."

Without waiting for a response, he returned his attention back to his displays. Despite all the problems Shepard had caused, the Illusive man had already fallen back on a contingency plan. Although the collector base had been destroyed, there was always a different means to reach the same goal. With a few quick taps on the armrest, the display pulled up a new image. An image that was in the form of a Reaper.

**Well there you go folks. Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. I'll see you in the next one!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Why hello there! First off a big thanks to everyone who read the last chapter. So this chapter kind of gave me a hard time, plus I have a couple of real life projects going on so that has been keeping me away. I hope that it turned out alright. But enough of this, on with the story!**

Chapter Nine

Shepard had remained in the med-bay until both Chakwas and Mordin was satisfied that he was well enough to go about his duties. They warned him to avoid any strenuous activities until his rib healed sufficiently. Garrus and Kasumi had waited outside for him and were glad to see him up and about. Aside from those two, everyone else had returned to their duties.

Taking a seat at the table, Shepard had Garrus and Kasumi fill him in while Gardner prepared a small meal for the commander. He listened as he ate and was glad that they were headed away from Horizon. It seemed like something went wrong every time he went to that colony.

Kasumi and Garrus had noticed how silent Shepard had become. Normally he would be giving orders as soon as he was up, but now he looked as if he had aged several more years.

"Shepard. You alright?" Garrus asked

"Yeah. I'm fine, just a bit tired."

"Maybe you should go see Tali. She's been worried for you." Kasumi suggested.

When Tali's name came up he remembered what his mother had told him. He wasn't sure if he should tell her. He hadn't exactly come to terms with his past just yet. Recent events didn't help as much either, as they only sapped a way at his flagging strength.

"Can I ask you guys something?"

"Anything Shep. We're all ears." Kasumi assured while Garrus nodded.

"Be honest with me; how open am I? About myself I mean."

His friends just stared at him and thought about it. They never really heard Shepard mention much about his life. Obviously they knew what he had done in the blitz. His accomplishments were the stuff of legends. But they never really heard an account from Shepard himself. He was always helping other people come to terms with their own lives.

"Are you asking this because you feel like your keeping something from us? Or are you asking because you almost died?" Garrus replied.

"A bit of both." Shepard admitted.

"You really never talked about it. I figured it was something you didn't really want to talk about. " Garrus responded. He felt somewhat ashamed for never really asking Shepard about this. He had always respected Shepard's privacy.

"Don't be sorry Garrus. I just never thought that anyone would really care."

"Look Shep. We're your friends, you can always talk to us when something bothers you. You've done a lot for us." Kasumi pointed out as she remembered Shepard letting her keep Keiji's graybox.

"Yeah. You talked me into letting Sidonis go and stopped me from doing something I would have regretted."

"Should I tell Tali?"

"She cares for you Shep. I'm sure she would understand."

Shepard fiddled with his fork a little bit as he thought about it. Kasumi was right. Tali did understand loss like he did. Was he actually keeping it from people to appear strong while suffering a burden that he refused to let go of?

Kasumi must have knew what he was thinking and told him to go to Tali. The two of them assured Shepard that they wouldn't be interrupted. He thanked them and they watched as he got up and headed to the elevator still grappling with his dilemma.

* * *

><p>Stopping at the CIC he decided to check in with everyone. Everybody was happy that he was alright. Joker had even reminded Shepard of what Tali had said back on Noveria about standing behind him and asking if his armor was in good condition. As he passed Kelly on his way to Mordin's lab she told him that he had several messages. Entering the lab he noticed Mordin bustling around excitedly.<p>

"Ah Shepard. Glad to see you! What can I do for you?"

"Just wanted to say thanks for helping me out."

"Happy to help. One moment. Have made much progress on my latest project!"

"What are you working on?" Sheaprd was now intrigued but at the same time bracing himself for a complicated explanation.

"Have been working on a new omni-tool advancement! Not finish just yet but results look promising."

"What will it do?"

"The omni-tool will be able to extend a portion of itself in the form of a sharp implement. A blade if you will. Believe that this will be useful."

"Dosen't the omni-tool already have that though?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, but much more refined with new advancement. Can be tuned for multiple situations." Mordin explained while showing Shepard various simulations.

"Can't think of how many situations that I would have loved to use something like that Mordin. Great job."

"Thank you Shepard. Will be forwarding this information to STG. Will make copies for the Alliance, Hierarchy and the Asari Republics."

"Mind if I ask you something Mordin?"

"Of course. Just letting simulations run."

"How has Tali been? Medically I mean."

"Tali'Zorah has been steadily improving. Immune system has been slowly adapting to you. Recommend continued use of immuno boosters and other supplements until she can remain out of her suit for longer periods. Would also recommend for you to continue to self sterilize to speed up progress of quarian adaption."

"Alright thanks Mordin."

"Of course. Enjoy yourself Shepard, but not too much." Mordin said as he returned to one of his other projects.

* * *

><p>After stepping out of the elevator, Shepard waited for the decontamination cycle to finish. The wait was a little inconvenient but it was worth it. Not knowing what to expect when he entered his cabin, he half expected Tali to pounce him. To his surprise she was laying on the bed clutching the holo of them.<p>

_'She must be exhausted. I'll let her sleep for a bit.'_

Wandering over to his desk nearby the bed he began going through his messages. Most of them were trivial. A new message popped up on his monitor, he was relieved to hear that no one had been lost in the action on Horizon, the Alliance was praising his quick response to the situation.

Somewhat bored he began looking around on the extranet. He began sifting through the news, maybe there was something going on that he could look into. Several minutes passed by and he began to doubt he would find anything useful. A news article grabbed his attention though, curious he opened the link.

_**Has Commander Shepard found love?- Citadel Times**_

_Commander Louis Shepard, lion of Elysium, savior of the Citadel, declared killed in action over two years ago was seen on the Zakera ward recently. While little is known of the commander's recent involvement in galactic issues since he's been back, word on the ward is that he's been seen with a member of his crew. Several eyewitnesses say they saw Shepard claiming he was in love with one Tali'Zorah, a quarian crew member who had served Shepard during the investigation of Saren Arterius._

_Click here for more..._

Shepard closed out the article and palmed his face.

_'That's just great. Does the galaxy have anything better to do then follow me around reporting my personal life?'_

He glanced at Tali again. She was still sleeping, and adorable half snore coming from her. Shepard winced as he twisted the wrong way. He never enjoyed having a fractured rib, he had received a lot of injuries during basics. At least it seemed manageable if he didn't turn the wrong way. Stepping away from his desk, he made his way to the shower trying to remove his uniform as gently as he could.

The warm water helped him relax as he thought. Tali had always been open with him, even back on the first Normandy. Throughout his life he had always held his secrets close to him and the blitz had only made him more closed off to others. He didn't talk about it with his fellow N7's or the Alliance PTS councilors, the only person he had told was his mother.

He made up his mind, he was going to tell her once she woke up. It was only fair. He turned off the water and dried himself off before getting into a fresh uniform. Once he made sure that his pets had enough to eat, he slid into bed next to Tali pulling her closer to him.

Tali slowly stirred awake. She was suddenly aware of Shepard pulling her towards him. She jolted awake and quickly threw her arms around him. He grunted at the sudden increase of pressure.

"Sorry. Why didn't you wake me up you bosh'tet?" Tali said as she loosened her grip on him.

"Well you looked like you needed the sleep."

"I can always get some rest later. You had me so worried. I didn't want to lose you. Not after what we've been through."

"Tali. I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

"I know you Louis. You always keep your promises." Tali nuzzled up against Shepard.

"So how did it go with my mom?" Shepard asked while enjoying his time with Tali.

"Keelah it was embarrassing. I was so nervous. She seemed to like me though."

"She does Tali. I talked with her a little bit before she left." Shepard frowned as he remembered what his mother told him.

Tali noticed Shepard's expression. He seemed troubled by something. She placed a gloved hand on the side of his face. She only regretted that she still needed her suit. At least her reactions to him were becoming more manageable. Usually just a fever and a cough.

"Louis is there something wrong? You look troubled."

"Well I... I wanted to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"I wanted to tell you about myself. It only seems fair. I mean you've told me all about yourself and how you grew up."

"Louis you don't have to if your uncomfortable."

"I know. But after what happened down there, it reminded me of when I got spaced. There was just so much you still didn't know about me, I don't want to make that mistake again."

Tali nodded. It wasn't often that she saw Shepard like this. She remembered how she felt when she talked with him aboard the first Normandy, it felt nice to have someone listen.

"I guess I should start with my childhood. Well I was born and raised on ships much like yourself. Well not in a bubble though, I bet you were just adorable." Shepard grinned when he said that. Tali gave him a playful shove.

"There was not much to do on a ship really. Usually if there were other kids we would all play in the mess. Most of the time though it was just me and my sister."

"You have a sister?" Tali asked. She had never known that he had a sister and wondered why Hannah had not mentioned her.

"Yeah, her name is Samantha. Shes about three years younger than me. She's in colonial development. I don't really hear much from her."

"It must be nice having a sister."

"Not really. I mean it was nice to have someone around but most of the time it was really annoying."

"Anyway when I finished school, I wanted to enlist. Follow in my parents footsteps you know?"

"It was much more difficult than I thought. It was hell when gunny Ellison trained me. There was a couple of times where I wanted to quit."

"You of all people wanted to quit?" Tali asked incredulously.

"Well you never met the man. I hear hes still out there being a living nightmare among the recruits."

"After I got out of basics I decided to join the N7 division. Now I thought basics was brutal, it was even worse in the N7."

"Isn't your father in charge of the N7?"

"Yeah. I guess you found that out from my mom. A lot of people think that I got through N7 training because of my dad. That was far from the truth, if anything I think he was the hardest on me out of all the marines."

Shepard paused as he recalled the events following that. It felt nice to be able to share all of this with someone else. Tali waited for him to continue on with his narrative.

"Training under my dad was tough. I think it was the only time me and him ever bonded. He didn't really say anything whenever I did well, usually he would just say good job before putting me back to work."

"Your father reminds me of mine. High expectations and nothing but perfection."

"I know what that feels like. There were only forty of us in the division and my dad almost worked all of us to death. Only ten of us made it through. I only knew a few of the others in passing but I was close to three of them."

"We were a pretty tight knit group. Me and Malcolm went through shock trooper training together. I guess you could say we were too hard headed to ever give in a fight. Paul was our infiltrator, he was always quiet and pretty decent with a sniper. Tanya was our only biotic but she loved tech stuff. She always took the time to help others, it's no wonder that she trained as a sentinel."

"The four of us had decided to take our shore leave on Elysium after we graduated from training." Shepard explained as he brought up his omni-tool. He tapped a few buttons and it pulled up an image of a group of people.

Tali immediately noticed Shepard. He looked younger, nothing compared to the more rugged qualities she had come to love. There were some qualities of him that he had retained like the gleam in his eye and the smile. She assumed that the taller man standing next to Shepard was Malcolm. He was a hulking figure, with short blonde hair and a scar that traced down from the side of his face to his jaw. Despite his intimidating appearance, he must have been a decent person if Shepard was friends with him.

The next person she noticed must have been Paul. He was about the same height as Shepard but more lean. His brown hair was slightly longer and had a few streaks of white. She could see why he would have been a good infiltrator, he looked like he could blend in. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at the last person in the picture. Tanya was shorter then the men but had an athletic build, with long black hair and dark green eyes. She appeared to be laughing with the others as she grinned.

"I take it that you were close to her." Tali commented, her tone almost growing into a growl. The sudden change in her tone shocked her. Something about seeing the image of Tanya made her blood boil.

"We were best friends during training. She came from Mindoir, one of our colonies that was raided by slavers. Her family died during the attack and she was rescued by a marine patrol that was from my mom's ship. She had a lot of problems growing up as a biotic, mostly being picked on for being different."

"She was the only other person who could give me a run for my money. I mostly kept the other guys from bugging her. There were only a few women in our division."

Tali looked at Shepard's face as he told his story. He had the same face when he had left Kaidan behind. He must have had feelings for her, but things must have never worked out. Tali still couldn't help but feel jealous.

"Me and Tanya were just getting a few drinks when the missiles first hit. The pirates had hit most of the garrisons in the city before we knew what was going on. After that we were all trying to regroup while evacuating the civilians."

"The four of us had managed to take cover in a AA battery. We knew that the pirates would try to take over the colonies defenses to keep away Alliance reinforcements."

"Those hours were some of the longest of my life. We held the invaders back for as long as we could before our heat sinks started to malfunction. Civilians kept coming to us and we would bring them into the bunker underneath the battery, while the pirates kept coming at us."

"There was this one kid though, a little boy probably only six years old. He had come out of one of the alleys crying. He must have been looking for his parents. He ran right out into the field of fire. Before anybody could do anything, Tanya ran out there and picked up the kid. The pirates managed to get passed her barrier and wounded her pretty bad."

"Malcolm and I dragged her and the kid back into cover while Paul covered us. I knew that it wouldn't be long before we were overrun and I told the others to get the civilians and Tanya out of there through the tunnels and to seal the doors."

"The others knew that I was right and carried Tanya out of there and sealed the door leaving me alone. It wasn't long until they did overrun me and if it wasn't for our reinforcements taking out all of the pirates that surrounded me, I probably would have died."

"What happened after that?"

"The Alliance promoted me. Eventually our group was split up and assigned to different posts. We still keep in touch."

"What about you and Tanya?"

"Never happened. The pirates had hit an artery, she bled out while the others took her to safety. They didn't have enough medi-gel to keep her from losing blood. I lost a good friend that day not to mention all of the people I was suppose to protect."

Shepard looked back to Tali. He held her close to him, afraid that if he let her go she would disappear.

"I've lost too many people. Tanya, Jenkins, Kaidan and many others. I had to let over three hundred thousand batarains die because of the Reapers. I don't want to lose you either."

"It wasn't your fault. Don't say that you could have done something different, there's nothing you could have done. I understand what you went through. I'll always be by your side no matter what."

"Thanks Tali." He gave her a warm smile.

Tali slowly pulled away from. She waited for her immuno booster to take effect before removing her visor. Shepard looked a bit confused but then realization hit him as he saw her pull off her visor. She grinned at him and slowly rubbed up against him as she leaned in to kiss him. She couldn't really explain it but she had just felt an urge to make sure Shepard knew that she loved him.

"What was that about? Not that I'm complaining." Shepard grinned as they pulled apart.

"Well I never did thank you for the decon unit and the new suit." Tali whispered in a sultry voice as she began removing her suit. Mordin had urged her to engage with Shepard whenever she felt that she could.

Shepard watched as Tali finish removing her suit and saw her angelic form. He had just regained enough sense to pull off his own clothes but stopped when Tali placed a hand on his.

"Let me take care of that." Tali purred.

Tali began pulling off his uniform with exaggerating slowness. This new side of her always surprised him. Normally this was not what you would expect from a shy women. He couldn't really complain though, it always seemed to be the shy women that turned him on the most.

"Want me to go easy on you this time?" Tali teased as she grabbed a tube of lubricant. There was several positions that she had seen in the booklet Mordin had given her. She was eager to try some of them.

"Let's see where this goes first." He grinned.

* * *

><p>About an hour later, Tali and Shepard both left the cabin to head back to their duties. Tali gave him a quick hug before Shepard headed off to the CIC. Shepard only grinned as he gave one last look at Tali before the door closed. He was incredibly sore but it was well worth it. Tali was a beast whenever they were alone. Shepard planned to stop by to see her once he finished his rounds.<p>

In a much better mood he made his way to Joker to see what he was up to. Joker must have picked up on it because he couldn't resist asking.

"So commander, seems like something got you in a good mood. We turning the Normandy in to a love boat now?"

"Mind your own business Joker."

"Alright just making sure, no need to be so defensive. Something you need commander?"

"How long until we're back in citadel space?"

"About an hour out. I'll link up to a comm buoy and forward your report to the council."

"Keep us in citadel space until I've figured out where to go."

"Aye aye commander."

He hoped that he would have a lead to go on by the time they got back. Not wasting any time, Shepard resumed his rounds and checked in with several of the crew in ops. He was going to stop by the armory but EDI had informed him that Jacob was currently with Miranda. That left a smile on Shepard's face. Maybe Miranda didn't need a better man than Jacob. Mordin was still running his simulations so there wasn't much to check in on.

Everything on the crew deck was the same as usual, Thane and Samara were meditating, most of the non-essential crew were resting in their quarters or chatting in the mess. Garrus was doing something else besides his calibrations for once, turned out that he was having a few drinks with Kasumi. Miranda and Jacob were no where to be seen so they must have been her office.

Joker was right, it was turning into somewhat of a love boat around here as he noticed Chakwas laughing over her meal with Gardner. Shepard checked in on EDI's well-being and had a brief conversation with Legion asking if it was possible for the geth to settle for peace with the quarians. The geth were willing to have peace but only if they were allowed to be left alone and to develop their own form of society. Shepard thought that it wouldn't be a problem, with the heretics destroyed he hoped that the true geth could show the fleet that they wanted peace.

When he got down to engineering he found Grunt and Jack sparring in the cargo hold. Jack could clearly hold her ground against Grunt but Grunt had the advantage of stamina. Zaeed was watching them with amusement and only nodded to Shepard as he glanced up from the fight. He bumped into Ken and Gabby on the way to see Tali, they invited him to another Skyllian-Five poker game. They were planning a tournament with several people from ops and asked if Shepard wanted to join the engineering team. Giving them a grin he said that he would join in.

Tali and Lia were the only two in the engineering room at the moment. Tali was impressed that Lia had learned much from Ken and Gabby and was actually thinking of leaving her in charge if she had to attend to something. She heard Ken laughing outside, probably about the poker game that he was planning. He had invited her to come along as well and she agreed, it would be nice to have a distraction.

She heard the door slide open and the sound of footsteps approaching her. She felt Shepard slide his hand around her waist as he pulled her close.

"Guess who?" Shepard whispered.

"A bosth'tet who knows not to do this in front of others." Tali replied with feign annoyance.

"So what are you up to?"

"Not much, just making sure these power levels stay equal. Those dock workers should consider themselves lucky."

Shepard took a moment to laugh before asking, "Tali, would you like to go see your aunt Shala?"

Surprised, she turned away from her console to face Shepard. She wondered why he had suddenly asked.

"Why? Did Shala send you a message to see her or something?"

"No, I just thought that it would be nice for you to visit the fleet. Plus who knows maybe you could tell her about us." Shepard grinned as he watched Tali begin to panic.

"I.. I don't know if that's a good idea. Shala is really protective of me and she has no idea that we are together."

"Well you've already met my mom, maybe it's my turn. Don't worry so much about it, how bad could it be?"

"The last person who tried to get permission from her to see me got his visor cracked open and almost got spaced."

"Oh." Shepard felt a sense of dread at meeting Shala now.

"It's up to you. It would be nice to see them again though."

"Alright, I'll tell Joker to set a course to the fleet's current location as soon as we get to the next relay."

**Well that's the end of this chapter. I wanted to get started on the next part but Shepard's past was nagging me so I decided to get it out of the way. I'll see you all in the next one.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everybody, I'm back with another chapter for you. So its been a while since I last worked on this story. Had to redo this chapter a few times so that it would flow well. Anyway I won't keep you.**

Chapter Ten

With the mission back on Horizon dealt with, the Normandy had made the jump back to the citadel space. When they returned, Shepard sent their mission report to the council. The council was worried about the batarian attack. They were reluctant to take any military actions against the Hegemony and decided that a diplomatic team should be sent to negotiate. Shepard agreed that was probably for the best but doubted the batarians would accept any sort of comprimise short of his trial. Once that was dealt with, the Normandy immediately left and started for the fleet's current position in the Typhon system.

Most of the crew had passed the time in the mess hall, taking bets on who would win in Kenneth's tournament. Unlike the other times they had all played poker, they had one person from each team pair up and play three rounds. The team that did the best would win. Kenneth had won two out of three against Hadley, while Gabby only won one of her rounds against Kelly. Both Tali and Shepard had won all three rounds against Matthews and Goldstein respectively.

"That's so not fair!" Hadley exclaimed as he threw his cards down on the table while most of the crew laughed and began exchanging credits.

"Ah stop being such a sore loser." Kenneth grinned as Hadley gave up his credits.

"You guys had Shepard and Tali. How are we suppose to beat that?" Matthews grumbled. Goldstein nodded in agreement.

"I told you I should have paired up with Tali. I can read her a lot better than you can." Kelly pointed out. Despite the fact that the ops crew had lost, Kelly thought that the game was a great way for everybody to blow off some steam.

"Well if that's all of the complaints, I'd say that team engineering wins!" Shepard laughed as Tali leaned up against him.

"I want a rematch!" Matthews demanded.

"Haven't you figured out that your not gonna beat Shepard? Only person I see Shepard willing to lose to is Tali." Gabby remarked. Tali shot Gabby a glare to which she only replied with a carefree shrug.

The crew laughed again and watched a fuming Matthews motion for Kenneth to deal again. Shepard only shook his head with amusement as he saw over a dozen omni-tools appear as the betting resumed.

* * *

><p>Two hours passed by before the Normandy arrived at their destination. After several more friendly games of poker, Miranda had everyone return to their stations. Shepard had checked in on everyone and was in the CIC to make sure everything went smoothly. He didn't want the quarians to mistake them as pirates. Despite how advanced their ship was, the fleet could easily overwhelm them if they weren't careful.<p>

The Normandy deftly cleared the relay and began its approach to the migrant fleet that was in orbit above Aite. Marine ships could be seen patrolling the ancient fleet, making sure none of the inhabitants of Aite would dare attack. It reminded Shepard of a school of fish. As soon as the Normandy was within visual range of the fleet, they were hailed.

"Unidentified ship. State your business."

"This is Tali'Zorah vas Normandy nar Rayya. Requesting permission to dock with the Tonbay." Tali said as she watched the fleet from the cockpit.

"Our sensors has your ship registered as a spectre ship. Verify."

"After time adrift among the open stars, along tides of light and though shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."

"Permission granted. Welcome home, Tali'Zorah. Proceed to docking cradle four, a quarantine team will meet you there." The ship operator stated before ending the comm channel.

"You think they would recognize the Normandy after our last visit. By the way, are we here because your in trouble again Tali? I don't wanna get spaced if something goes wrong." Joker spoke up as he pulled in closer to the aging ship.

"Just bring us into dock Joker." Shepard replied before turning towards Tali, "Did you tell your auntie that we were coming?"

"Yes. She agreed to come aboard once we have docked. What's the matter? Nervous already?" Tali teased.

"I just hope she will take the news well."

* * *

><p>Shala waited in the cramped corridor as the quarantine team went about their task. She was eager to see Tali again, it had felt like years since she last seen her. They didn't exactly part on the best of terms the last time Tali had returned. She was glad that Shepard had defended her and that they didn't have to exile her.<p>

Unlike the first time the Normandy had arrived, Shala examined the ship with more interest. She had only glanced at it for a short while before dismissing it because of the trial and also because it was Cerberus ship. But with the mark of Cerberus gone she saw that it was indeed a marvel of technology. If the ships in their fleet was as half advanced as the Normandy, they would be a force to be reckoned with.

As soon as the sanitation was complete, Shala entered the airlock alone. She had refused to have an escort because of their location. The marines were already spread thin and having even one marine with her could have meant the safety of the fleet. With the salvage teams in the ruins of the Cerberus facilities, the chances of pirates attacking their ships were high. The door slid apart silently as the decontamination cycle ended. Shala looked about cautiously before entering the unfamiliar ship.

"Auntie Raan!"

"Tali. It's so good to see you again." Shala replied as she hugged Tali before turning to address Shepard.

"Captain Shepard. It is a pleasure to see you again albeit in a much more pleasant situation."

"Likewise admiral." Shepard nodded as Tali quickly nudged him. "Would you like a tour of the ship?"

"I see that you know our customs of welcoming outsiders to a ship. Yes, I would be delighted to see your ship in greater detail."

Shepard began introducing the crew as they passed by each person's station. Shala gazed in wonder at how advanced the ship was. She was astonished to learn that the ship had an actual A.I. Despite Shepard's reassurances and the pleasant demeanor E.D.I exhibited she was still wary of how dangerous an A.I. was.

The human crew was pleasant and nodded when they saw her, unlike many other species that looked down upon the quarians. She was somewhat thrown off by Joker's remark about not being able to tell the difference between Tali and herself if it weren't for the suit.

Shepard finished the tour of the CIC and had taken them directly to engineering. At this point Shepard allowed Tali to take the lead. This also came as a surprise to Shala. Usually it was the captain who had the privilege of showing off their ship to guests.

"Captain. May I ask you something?" Shala queried before following Tali in to the main engineering room.

"Of course and please call me Shepard."

"I will try to remember that, but it is difficult to break old habits." Shala replied before bringing up her question, "Why is that you let Tali lead this part of the tour? Among our people we generally leave this to the captain of the ship."

"I'll be honest with you admiral. If there's anybody on this ship who could tell you every little thing about it, it would be Tali. Seeing as she is my chief engineer, who better to give a tour of the engineering deck?"

The amount of empty space on the ship amazed her, her own crew could probably only fill a portion of the cargo hold let alone the rest of the ship. She listened to Tali as she rattled off a list of specs on both the shuttle and the Hammerhead. There were only three other people on the deck with them. Kenneth, and Gabby politely introduced themselves and Lia exchanged a greeting before returning to her work.

"Would you like something to eat auntie? We have plenty of food." Tali asked after explaining the amount of power generated by the core to Shala.

"Oh no. I don't want to be a burden on your supplies."

"Nonsense. Your our guest. We have plenty to go around." Shepard commented as they headed back to the elevator.

* * *

><p>Shala was enjoying herself immensely. She was happy to see Tali again and she was touring one of the most advanced ships she has ever seen. This was a much welcome break to all of the debates and reports on supplies she had to deal with. Shepard led the way to the mess where Gardner had already prepared several meals for them. Everyone on the ground team was present except for Legion who was still in the A.I. core room.<p>

Shala was surprised to see so many aliens here. The majority of the crew was composed of humans, but there was a turian, drell, asari, salarian, and even a krogan. She knew that Shepard was a remarkable leader, but she was surprised of how much respect they showed him. They all shared a meal together as Shepard and Tali continued to tell Shala more about the ship and what they have been doing since she had last seen them.

"It seems that you have done much since we had last met. I'm glad that you survived your mission through the Omega-4 relay." Shala remarked as she savored her paste.

"It was a team effort. I couldn't have done it on my own." Shepard replied, quickly glancing at his team.

"You mentioned a member of your crew by the name of Legion. That's a strange name to give to a human. I assume its a nickname, similar to your helmsman."

Shepard and Tali glanced at each other. This reaction aroused Shala's curiosity.

"Auntie. Legion isn't human." Tali said nervously before continuing, "Legion is a geth."

This revelation sent chills down her spine. That chill was quickly replaced with seething anger.

"A geth! They cannot be trusted!" Shala hissed.

"Shala, let me explain. We found Legion while we were aboard a derelict Reaper looking for an IFF to help us through the Omega-4 relay. We brought it aboard and when we reactivated it, Legion told us that it wanted to join us against the Reapers." Shepard explained.

"Legion explained that there are two main factions of geth. The true geth reside beyond the Perseus Veil while the Heretics, who worship the Reapers mostly operate in the Terminus systems. The true geth don't want to fight organics, they just want to be left alone so they can create their own future. They see the Reapers as a threat, so they want to help."

"I would like to speak with this Legion at once then. For all we know, it could be deceiving you into believing it's claims."

"We can speak with Legion in a bit but I need you to trust me admiral. The quarians have misunderstood the geth. The geth are opened to the idea of peace, they just want to know if the quarians are willing to put aside their anger. I don't think that Legion is lying, they wouldn't gain anything from it if they were."

The three of them finished their meal in silence. Shala was still reeling from this new information. She wasn't convinced that it could be that simple with the geth. The other admirals would probably want to know of this immediately but she wanted to confrim this for herself.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted another person padding silently towards them. She was a small human garbed in dark attire with a hood to match. Shala could barely see the rest of the young woman's face. If it weren't for several obvious physical differences, she would have looked a lot like a quarian.

"Ah you must be Shala. Tali has told me so much about you. It's very nice to meet you." Kasumi flashed a grin.

"You must be Kasumi then. Tali has mentioned you several times in her messages. The two of you must be close friends." Shala observed.

"Well not as close as Shep and Tal here." Kasumi gestured.

Despite her dismay, Tali tried to motion for Kasumi to stop. She was not successful and cringed when Shala turned towards her and Shepard.

"What do you mean?" Shala asked, her mild tone growing into a growl.

"Oops. Sorry Tal. I gotta run, bye!" Kasumi said hastily before vanishing.

"Tali. I expect an explanation for this."

"Auntie please don't be angry. I'm with the commander now. I have chosen him as my mate." Tali said in a barely audible voice.

Before anybody could react, Shala had quickly leaned over the table and slugged Shepard in the chest with enough force to launch him out of his chair. The pain that she felt was blotted out by the rage that coalesced inside of her.

"BOSH'TET! I TRUSTED YOU TO TAKE CARE OF TALI AND INSTEAD I FIND OUT THAT YOU HAVE BEEN TAKING ADVANTAGE OF HER?" Shala screamed as she quickly converged on Shepard.

A former Cerberus crew was one thing, having an A.I. was another, and having a geth aboard was borderline insanity, but this was the too much. She was about to thrash him to an inch of his life. She stopped as Tali leaped in the way.

"Stand aside Tali! Let me deal with this_ human_!"

"No! I won't let you hurt my mate! I love him and he loves me!" Tali shouted defiantly as she stood her ground.

"How could you ever love him! How could he ever understand what we have to go through let alone be your mate?" Shala retorted.

"Your wrong! He understands us better than you know, he sees more than just a suit. He actually cares for me and I...I've already shared myself with him."

This stopped Shala dead in her tracks. It all made sense to her now. Tali did have feelings for Shepard. She should have seen the signs. Each time Tali mentioned Shepard after she came back from her pilgrimage. How she had mourned him when he was reported dead. How she had immediately requested to be transferred back to his command. The way they had looked at each other during the trial and how he had defended her.

There was a sudden roar behind them and Shala turned around to see the krogan advance on her. She suddenly felt fear as Grunt stomped towards her. The rest of the crew stood in shock as they watched the event unfold in front of them.

"Stand down Grunt." Shepard groaned.

Grunt still advanced on the elder quarian, intent on tearing her to pieces for assaulting his battlemaster. It was as if Shepard's honor and by extension his own was being questioned.

"I SAID STAND DOWN!" Shepard shouted before coughing up blood. Tali immediately turned around and took hold of him as she tried to help him back into his seat. At this point, Dr. Chakwas snapped out of it and rushed over to help.

"Your lucky that Shepard told me to stop quarian. If you try to attack my battlemaster again or take away his mate, I'll make sure that the fleet you love so much is nothing but scrap metal." Grunt growled menacingly.

Shala nodded slowly as she waited for the krogan to back away. Feeling weak she sat down and placed a hand on her visor.

_'How could I have been so blind?'_ She thought as she watched Tali at Shepard's side.

Shala saw Tali relax when she was told that Shepard would be fine. The glance that Tali had shot back at her was full of anger. She had never seen Tali like this before. She knew she had made a grave mistake.

"Tali. I am so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen." Shala tried to apologize but shrunk back from Tali's piercing stare, "You know how much I care for you. It's just when you mentioned that you were involved with your captain, I felt as if he betrayed my trust in him."

"You had no right to strike him! He has more than earned our trust. I thought you would understand Shala."

"It doesn't matter now though. Whether you like it or not, I have chosen him as my mate and I will not let you take him away from me. He is mine!"

Shala was shocked at the anger in her words. It was obvious that the bond between them was deep. She could see how protective Tali was. The females of their race had always been protective of their mates. The steel in her words only furthered this conception.

"You are right. I have no right to interfere. Still I am sorry for what I have done. If you wish to renounce me for what I have done I will understand."

"No, auntie. I could never renounce you. You've done a lot for me in the past, but I need to make my own choices now."

"I understand Tali. Captain, I am truly sorry for this. I hope that this will not affect anything between us." Shala apologized.

"It's alright admiral. What's done is done, no need to worry about it. I gotta say though, you have one hell of a punch." Shepard chuckled before grimacing.

"Alright everyone. Head back to what you were doing. EDI, would you please inform Legion that we are coming for a quick chat."

"Already done commander." EDI chimed.

* * *

><p>Shortly after asking EDI, to tell Legion that they were coming, Shepard limped to the A.I. core with Tali's help. Shala followed close behind. Standing there in front of them was Legion. She had to fight the urge to pull out her side arm.<p>

"Shepard-Commander. We detect that you are injured. Do you require medical assistance?"

"I'm fine Legion. Thanks for asking." Shepard replied as he leaned against the wall and nodded for them to speak.

"Greetings Creator Zorah and Admiral Creator Raan."

"How do you know me?" Shala asked suspiciously.

"We have learned of your presence when EDI told us you boarded the Normandy."

"How can you speak? A single geth should not be this advance."

"We are an advanced platform created to operate alone in organic space."

"Why did you leave the main collective then?"

"We were created to find Shepard-Commander. He is the most successful in his battles with the Heretics. However we did not find him until recently on the Old Machine."

"Legion has saved our lives several times. If it weren't for Legion we would have never made it out of the derelict." Tali added.

"Yes, Creator Zorah was present with Shepard-Commander on the Old Machine." Legion confirmed.

Shala circled Legion once, examining it in greater detail. The platform itself was similar to those that she had seen in the recordings the marines brought back from their scouting in various geth controlled systems. The only obvious differences was the large hole that had pierced Legion and the N7 armor it had used to repair itself.

"Would the geth attack the fleet then?" Shala inquired further.

"Only if we were attacked first. We oppose the Old Machines, we oppose the Heretics. We do not wish conflict with organics, only to understand them."

"Does that mean you are open to peace?"

"Yes. We did not want war with the Creators. The Creators attacked us first out of fear of what they did not understand."

"If we were to consider peace with the geth, would we be able to return to our homeworld?" Shala asked, a hint of hopefulness lacing her words.

The flaps on Legion's head moved in a way reminiscent of a furrowed expression. Legion was silent as it considered the question.

"Not until the geth receives more data that suggests coexistence is possible. The Creators have attacked us 100 percent of the time when they believed they could win."

Shepard and Tali watched the exchange silently, they could tell that Shala was still grappling with the situation. Shepard hoped that Shala could persuade the other admirals once she returned to her ship. He realized that it would be extremely difficult without proof.

"Admiral, would it be possible to get the other admirals to agree to peace with the geth?" Shepard inquired.

"Possibly. Koris would leap at a chance of peace with the geth while Gerrel would refuse the idea unless we could prove it to him. It is Daro'Xen I am wary of. She has been continuing her research on how to control the geth."

"I know that it may be a long shot but if it's possible you should consider it. The Reapers are coming and we need the fleet to help us in this war. The geth could probably help and would probably allow the quarians return to Rannoch. We need both the quarians and geth to stop fighting if we want any chance of surviving the Reapers."

"I don't know. I am convinced that there is a chance for peace but many of our people are still fearful of the geth. This is something we cannot rush into right away. I'll bring this matter up the next time I meet with the other admirals."

"Alright. Is there anything else you would like to ask Legion?"

"No. I have had enough excitement for one day. I should return to my ship." Shala nodded once to Legion before turning to leave with Tali and Shepard. Shepard tapped the button for the elevator to take them back to the CIC while Tali and Shala talked about the possibility of being able to return to their homeworld.

"Thank you for having me aboard your ship Captain Shepard. Again, I am very sorry about what happened earlier."

"It's nothing really." Shepard lied. To be honest he felt as if he got hit by a truck.

"It was nice seeing you again auntie." Tali said as she gave Shala another hug.

"It was nice seeing both of you again. Please try to visit more often. I hope that the two of you have many long years together. Keelah se'lai."

"Keelah se'lai." Both Tali and Shepard repeated.

Before Shala could turn to leave though Joker called out to them.

"Uhh commander? I got contacts coming from the surface of the planet. Unknown registry. Their heading towards the fleet."

All four of them turned and watch in horror as one of the quarian mining ships exploded. The rest of the mining ships scattered as several of the marine patrols traded fire with the hostile ships.

"EDI! Run a scan on those ships now!" Shepard ordered.

"Scans complete. They match the ship profiles used by Cerberus."

Everyone stood still as they absorbed this new information. Shepard was the first to recover.

"Joker! We're engaging those ships as soon as we are away from the Tonbay! I want those ships destroyed before they can escape!"

"Aye aye commander!"

**Well that's all for this chapter. Hoped you enjoyed it. I hate to leave you all hanging but I promise that the next chapter will come soon. I'll see you all in the next one.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone, I am back with another chapter for you all. I'll keep it brief, don't want to spoil the chapter for you. Also a thanks to those who have been reading. Enjoy!**

Chapter Eleven

The Normandy maneuvered among the scattering quarian ships. The hostile ships had already taken out several of the marine patrols and were trying to penetrate further to strike at the vulnerable ships in the center of the fleet. There were at least a dozen fighters as the Normandy made it's way to intercept them.

GARDIAN pulses were seen as the quarian ships tried to defend themselves from the swift Cerberus fighters. Explosions from the fighter's weapons peppered their shields. The fighters continued to avoid the incoming fire while they delivered their payloads on their targets.

The shields finally broke as the fighters continued their hit and run tactics. Luckily, they immediately aborted any further attacks on the fleet when they identified the Normandy. Gathering into a rough claw like formation, they moved against the Normandy.

"Initiating GARDIAN defenses. I have also located their point of origin on the planet." EDI, spoke as they dodged a volley of incoming fire.

"One thing at a time, we need to take out those fighters first. We can't use the Thanix, their too fast and we might hit the fleet." Shepard replied as he watched the tactical map on Joker's display."

"I estimate that only 75 percent of the fighters will be destroyed by the GARDIAN alone before the remaining ships bypass our shields. Recommending use of javelins to avoid collateral damage."

"Hold on everyone!" Joker shouted as he pulled out of a sharp dive. The ship shuddered from several detonations as the fighters pursued them.

"Targets locked. Take them out EDI!" Joker announced as he rolled to avoid another volley.

The fighters were quickly cut down from twelve to three as the GARDIAN continued to target them. Several javelins had made direct hits and one had exploded near one of the fighters buffeting them into another fighter where they collided. The three remaining fighters disengaged and tried to drop several anti-ship mines as they attempted to escape. The mines were quickly destroyed by a quarian frigate while several corvettes obliterated the remaining Cerberus ships.

"Status?" Shepard asked as he looked out the port window.

"No major structural damages detected. Kinetic barriers at 32 percent. No additional contacts detected." EDI, reported.

"Joker, open up a channel to all of the fleet. Tell them to make a quick sweep for survivors before moving their fleet out of orbit."

Once they received an acknowledgment from the fleet Shepard contacted Miranda and told her to get the team suited up. As Shepard left with Tali to grab his armor he couldn't help but speculate. What was Cerberus playing at? What could they have gained from attacking the fleet? He seriously doubted that another Cerberus cell went rouge like the one that involved Jack.

* * *

><p>Several minutes later Shepard along with Tali, Garrus and Mordin, rocketed towards the coordinates that EDI had provided in the Hammerhead. The rest of the ground team would arrive after them in the shuttle to provide cover if it was necessary.<p>

Shepard recalled the last time they had come to this planet. It seemed like Cerberus was always up to something nefarious. Shepard had uncovered the truth behind the Overlord project and was horrified by it. The scientist responsible had used his own brother as an experiment to try to control the geth. He spared Dr. Archer but instead of letting the doctor continue his work, he had the Alliance take Archer's brother to Grissom Academy to be cared for. He had no idea what they would find down on the surface but whatever it was it could'nt be good.

Tali sat beside Shepard making constant adjustments to the Hammerheads shields while Mordin monitored some of the other systems. Garrus had taken his place at the gun and was humming something that sounded like the turian anthem.

The Hammerhead landed with a dull thump before it sped off in the direction of the Cerberus facility. Like all of the other facilities Shepard had been to, it was in a secluded area nestled within a gorge. Shepard spied several automatic turrets, but they proved to be inactive as they passed by them. Stopping some forty feet away from the walls they waited for the shuttle to do quick flyby before proceeding.

"Mordin. Anything on the scanners?" Shepard asked as he watched the shuttle make a pass over the facility.

"No life signs detected. Picking up movement within the base. Most likely mechs."

"This doesn't seem right Shepard. There had to be more people in that base than the ones we encountered up in orbit." Garrus spoke as he scanned the surroundings for potential targets.

"_Area looks clear commander."_ Miranda's voice crackled over the comms.

"Alright we're coming in." Shepard responded before boosting towards the wall and at the last moment hitting the hover jets propelling them over the wall.

Everybody was a little shaken up except for the commander. Garrus could be heard muttering as he narrowly avoided hitting his head, while Tali held the controls with a death grip. This was not as bad as Shepard driving the Mako, but that was only because of the Hammerhead's design. Tali couldn't help but wonder how Shepard's brilliance on the battlefield didn't translate to driving.

The four of them piled out of the Hammerhead and saw the rest of the team disembarking as the shuttle settled on the landing pad. With quick hand motions, Shepard had most of the team take up positions in and around their only means of extraction. Tali went up to the main door and began hacking the panel while Shepard and Garrus flanked both sides of the door.

After a few tense moments, the panel turned green and Shepard and Garrus moved inside to secure the corridor before signaling for Tali and Mordin to follow. The first corridor was empty, the only signs of anyone ever being there was the marks of gunfire. Further down the hall they encountered several bodies. Mordin knelt down and examined the bodies while everyone else covered him.

"Strange. Victims appear to have died from blunt force rather than gunfire."

"Could it have been krogans from a local merc group?" Garrus asked as he peered around the corner.

"Unlikely. Cerberus base well hidden and have many defenses. Would have known if anyone was coming."

They continued on and eventually they reached what seemed to be the living area for the base. The large room was devoid of any signs of life and several bodies were scattered around in addition to broken mechs. Unable to find anything they proceeded into the elevator and traveled deeper into the base.

Eventually the elevator pinged and the doors slid apart and the team continued on. Most of the lights had been smashed, the few that remained flickered feebly. This time there were no bodies in the hall ways, organic or otherwise. Unlike all of the other facilities they had been to before, this one seemed like it was created in a rush and more purposeful. All of the others had been created with multiple wings, whereas this one had the bare essentials and nothing more.

Shepard signaled the team to stop when they heard movement. The team quickly melted into the shadows as they waited for the owner of the footsteps to appear. A LOKI mech appeared around the corner and methodically scanned the area for intruders. Finding nothing, it continued on into an adjacent hallway. Once they were sure that it was gone they continued in the direction that the mech had come from.

* * *

><p>While Shepard and his team were exploring the base, the rest of the team continued to keep an eye out. Grunt complained a little bit about not having something to shoot at, so Miranda sent him along with Jack to take care of some of the nearby turrets. She didn't want any of the turrets spontaneously activating and cutting off their escape.<p>

Every now and than they would hear something and would snap their weapons up, expecting something to come out at them. It turned out to be loose equipment spilling out of crates or some of the native wildlife knocking barrels over. Miranda, along with everybody else began to feel twitchy with each passing moment. There was something wrong with the entire situation.

"_Hey we took care of two of those turrets. Want us to take out the rest of them cheerleader?" _Jack's voice came over the comms.

"Negative. Just the ones closest to the base so that they don't give us any trouble."

"_Whatever. We're headed back."_

Despite Jack's attitude, Miranda believed they had come to a sort of understanding. She wouldn't bother Jack as much while Jack agreed to work with her on missions. It wasn't perfect, but there were more important things to take care of rather than their petty disagreements.

She was about to check in with Shepard's team but all she got was static. Confused, she tried the radio again. Knowing her former employer, she wasn't surprised that they couldn't reach the others. They were on their own for now. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw something move. Before she could say anything or pull out her weapon, something lunged out at her.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile Shepard's group was slowly forging their way deeper into the base. They had several encounters with mechs but they managed to avoid detection each time. Eventually they came across a room guarded by two mechs. Tali silently drained both of the mechs and they fell with a clatter. She proceeded to hack the door while everyone else covered her. Shepard grabbed the clips from the mech, they still had no idea what was down here besides the mechs and he didn't feel like wrestling with anything that was down there.<p>

"What's the hold up Tali?" Garrus asked as he glanced at her. Tali had been hard at work for over five minutes now.

"Working on it. The bosh'tets put a advanced encryption in place. I can't crack it." Tali replied. She was starting to feel frustrated.

"Let me take a look at it." Shepard offered.

"Be my guest."

Tali moved aside and watched Shepard kneel down in front of the panel. He looked at it critically. Tali couldn't help but laugh at the situation in her mind. She knew that Shepard knew a little bit about tech, but if she couldn't figure it out than how could he. Shepard nodded to himself before standing up. With a smooth motion, he pulled out his Phalanx and shot the panel twice. The door slid open as the emergency door locks disengaged.

"I can't believe that worked." Tali said incredulously as Shepard holstered his weapon.

"Usually the answer is the simplest one." Shepard grinned before moving in to secure the room.

The room they entered could best be described as large but felt small because of the amount of equipment inside. There was a small observation window overlooking another room. Mordin had already began checking several of the terminals and started downloading anything that might give them a clue what Cerberus was up to. Garrus hung back with the doctor and kept an eye on the hall way. Tali and Shepard had moved closer to the window. Shepard tapped a flickering button and the window depolarized and revealed what was in the chamber beyond them.

"Keelah." Tali uttered as she stared through the glass.

The room was covered in honeycomb like structures. Numerous pod's lined the walls. Shepard shuddered as he remembered the collector base. Seeing some of the colonist's being liquefied and pumped into the human Reaper was not something that could be forgotten. Looking away from the pods, he directed his attention to the back of the chamber.

A large artifact stood at the back with four pillars supporting it. They could see equipment scattered around the base of it, no doubt an attempt to study the artifact. It's intricate curves gave it the appearance of staring into something infinite. A blue glow emanated from it, seemingly independent of any source of energy. Shepard knew that it wasn't just an ordinary artifact. It was a Reaper artifact.

"Mordin. How long until we've got the data?" Shepard asked as he turned his attention away from the artifact.

"Data mine already started. Just a few minutes. Will not take long."

A sudden howl echoed down the hallway and accompanying it was the sound of gunfire. Silence quickly returned as the gunfire stopped.

"Well make it take less time." Garrus suggested.

* * *

><p>Thane dropped his spent clip to the ground after he had pumped several rounds into the husk that had threw itself at Miranda. Miranda glanced up in his direction and nodded her thanks before joining the fray with the others.<p>

When the shuttle had landed, Thane had chose a small elevated building next to the landing pad. Despite his recent decline in health, the air was bearable and his task of keeping watch over his comrades gave him purpose. However the calm was broken and now only a cold methodical aim remained as he continued to target more husks as they streamed out into the courtyard.

The husks were disorganized, but they had the advantage of numbers. Each time someone reloaded the husks gained a little more ground. Not having time to reload his Mattock, Zaeed had jumped into the gunner seat of the Hammerhead and quickly bombarded the husks. By the time the last husk fell, most everyone had received a few cuts and bruises.

"Alright everybody. We know what we're up against now, so we'll stay on the defensive and wait until Shepard gets back with his group." Miranda shouted as she shoved a new clip into her gun.

"Hope we don't need the Hammerhead again. I figure we have enough rounds to last us an hour." Zaeed grunted as he shoved another clip into his rifle.

"We should pile those husks off to the side, keep a clear line of fire." Jacob suggested.

Miranda nodded and indicated for Jacob, Kasumi, and Zaeed to stack the husks off to the side. Everyone else took up positions far enough a way from the entrances so that they wouldn't get surrounded. As soon as the last body was thrown into the grisly pile they heard another shriek. This time they were ready.

* * *

><p>Shepard leaned around the edge of the door and fired a burst at the husk running towards them as it slid down the pile of bodies. The husks had been assaulting their position for several minutes now, and were showing no signs of relenting. Shepard and Garrus had put down so many husks that they formed a makeshift wall.<p>

While the two of them held off the husks, Tali assisted Mordin with their data collection. They had only retrieved a fifth of the data that was stored in the lab. Every now and than Tali would turn to look over to Shepard and Garrus. The two of them were constantly picking off the husks as soon as one popped their head over the bodies.

Her omni-tool pinged as it finished downloading operation logs from the terminal she was hacking. Tali was about to move on to the next terminal when she heard a noise above them. Pointing her shotgun towards the ceiling, she moved slowly to next terminal and began another hack. As soon as she did, the weakened ceiling collapsed. Tali lost her shotgun as a husk fell on top of her. The husk flailed its arms as it tried to get a grip. She tried to push it off of her but it was too heavy. Realizing her gun was out of reach, she yanked her knife out of it's sheath and stabbed the husk several times in the head.

The husk writhed one last time before it stopped moving altogether. Tali pushed the body off of her and picked up her weapon while returning her knife back in it's sheath.

"You alright Tali?" Shepard shouted as he continued to shoot.

"I'm fine. I can take care of myself."

"I don't know how much longer we can keep this up Shepard!" Garrus yelled as he switched to his Vindicator.

"How much longer Mordin?" Shepard asked again as he reloaded.

"Very close. Should be done at the same time." Mordin quipped as he glanced at both sets of data mine streams.

As soon as Mordin finished speaking, another wave assaulted them. Shepard noticed a slightly different figure standing among the husks. The figure was similar to a husk but was obviously a female, it's head was slightly elongated and the arms were disproportional compared to it's body. Whatever the creature was it screeched and swung its clawed hands in their direction and the pile of corpses flew towards them.

Garrus fired a concussive blast and the force of the round pulped the bodies. Shepard quickly followed up with his own concussive shot and caused the creature to stagger. While it was doubled over, Shepard and Garrus unleashed a hellish barrage upon it. Shepard cringed at the final screech that came from the creatures throat as it crumpled to the ground.

"What in the spirits was that?"

"No idea Garrus. Let's just hope we don't run into more of those things in a cramped hallway." Shepard responded.

"Done! Should leave before more arrive." Mordin announced.

"Alright we're out of here. Just one last thing to do." Shepard replied.

Jogging over to the terminal in the center of the room, Shepard tapped several buttons and activated the self-destruct sequence. A twenty minute countdown appeared on the console. With that the team left at a brisk pace and started to trace their way back through the facility.

They didn't encounter anything in the hallways but the closer they got to the upper levels, the sound of gunfire grew in intensity. When they reentered the living area, they found only chaos. Husks were running in every direction, the majority were rushing a group of mechs that were congregated on one side of the room. The few mechs that were overwhelmed by husks exploded, sending bits of bodies flying throughout the room.

Knowing that time was of the essence the team plowed their way through the combatants, only shooting anything that got in their way. When they reached the other side of the room, Tali sent Chiktikka back into the room to keep the husks and mechs from following them. Howls and gunfire continued to echo down the hallway, drowning out almost everything except for sound of their running and labored breathing.

By the time they reached the surface, Shepard and his team were nearly out of breath. Shepard quickly filled Miranda in about the self-destruct and she had everyone board the shuttle while Shepard's team took their places back in the Hammerhead.

In unison, the shuttle and Hammerhead rushed to their pick up point. They concentrated on putting some serious distance between them and the base. The resounding explosion was felt over a mile away. Shepard gave a sigh of relief as he eased off on the throttle.

"EDI. I'm sending you the data we got from the base. See if you can make some sense out of it. Once we're aboard I want everybody to meet in the briefing room."

"Of course. ETA five minutes to extraction point."

* * *

><p>"I've already compiled the data and have decrypted most of it. This base was recently constructed to house the Reaper artifact that a surveying group had discovered."<p>

"Cerberus has been using this base to study the artifact as well as storing what seems to be collector technology. I assume they were salvaged from the remains of the collector base."

"Figures. Cerberus can never leave well enough alone." Jack snorted as she listened.

"What about the attack from those fighters?" Shepard asked.

"Most likely they were indoctrinated, although not to the point of being a husk. The personnel must have recently been changed."

"Great. Now we have semi husks performing suicide missions. Guess Cerberus never gave up on that shock troopers project." Garrus observed.

"Operation logs indicate more bases similar to this one. Most likely not a coincidence. New form of husk also intriguing. Seemed to have biotic tendencies." Mordin added.

The team paused as they took in the information. They were starting to fill in the blanks, but they still didn't have a clear picture of what the Illusive man was up to.

"Is it possible that the Illusive man was trying to reverse engineer Reaper artifacts?" Shepard asked.

"I don't know Shepard. We didn't really know what was going on in some of the other cells. I wouldn't doubt the possibility though." Miranda answered in a perplexed manner.

"Wait Shepard, there is more." E.D.I said as she pulled up a image of a Reaper.

It was the same one Shepard had come to associate with Harbinger.

"Why would he work with the Reaper's though? It dosen't make sense." Jacob commented as he shook his head.

"Maybe he's trying to do the same thing Saren did. Try to get the Reapers to spare them if they prove themselves useful." Tali said in a disgusted tone.

"Well we're not gonna find out for sure right now. Until then we can only assume the Cerberus has pulled out all the stops, even if it meant working with the Reapers. Everybody get some rest, tomorrows going to be a long day." Shepard said as he dismissed his team.

Everyone eventually left the briefing room leaving Shepard alone with Tali. Judging from Tali's body language, Shepard could tell she was worried.

"What are we going to do Louis?" Tali whispered.

"To tell you the truth. I have no idea how we're gonna do this. I'm gonna try though. We've done too much to just give up."

"Don't worry Louis. We're with you to the end. You've done the impossible before, you'll do it again."

"I didn't do it alone you know." Shepard replied as a grin broke through grim demeanor before continuing in a gentle tone, "Whatever happens though, I want you to know that running into you was the best thing to ever happen to me."

He couldn't really tell, but he knew that Tali was smiling as she looked into his eyes. The two shared another hug before Tali excused herself. Shepard watched her go and when she was out of sight he stared down at the table. He had to report back to the council and the Alliance. For some reason unknown to him, he knew that time was running out.

* * *

><p>After removing his armor and putting his weapons away, he sat down and sent a message to Anderson. It didn't take long for Anderson to respond. Shepard waited for his model display to disappear and saw Anderson's weathered face appear.<p>

"Shepard. It's good to see you."

"Likewise."

"You wanted to speak to me?"

"Yes. Cerberus has completely lost it. They attacked us and the Migrant fleet. We recovered data from one of their bases, and we think they might be working for the Reapers. We need to tell the council and the Alliance."

"That's one hell of a claim Shepard. I don't know if the council would take this seriously even if you did send a copy of that data. As for the Alliance, they probably don't want anything to do with Cerberus, not after what you did to the batarians."

Shepard narrowed his eyes. "So the Alliance doesn't even trust me anymore. Do we have to wait for the Reapers to invade before I can get them, the council, and everyone else who thinks that we're safe, to believe me? After everything I've done, this is what I get?"

"Look they're just scared. They just want to avoid more problems. You know I trust you. You wouldn't have done what you did if there was another way. I probably would have done the same if I were in your place."

"Has the council had any luck with the batarians than?"

"Not really, the Alliance is trying to avoid a war with them. They think that if we bring you in and hold you responsible, we might be able to avoid a war."

"So when do I have to stand trial?"

"A week from now. I'm actually gonna be there with you. The Alliance wants me to keep an eye on you. They're gonna send an escort to make sure the Normandy comes back to Earth. It would probably be best if you inform your crew. I know most of them were with Cerberus, but you should tell them that the Alliance might try to use that as an excuse to take them in."

"I understand. We'll be back in Sol in a few days."

"Take care Shepard. I'll make sure the brass gives you a chance to show your data to them. I'm not gonna stand by while they try to turn you into a scapegoat."

The screen faded away and Shepard could only wonder what he was going to face when heads back to Earth.

**Anyway that's it for this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed this. Trying to get this story as close as possible to the next game. I'll see you in the next chapter. But until then let's enjoy the highly anticipated demo! :D**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey everybody! So finally stopped playing the multiplayer for the ME3 demo and got around to working on this chapter. If you haven't already tried the demo, I recommend it. Much of the inspiration for the last bit with Tali came from InHarmsWay "Shepard is Mine". If you haven't read it than I highly recommend it , I just hoped that I did justice by it with my version. Anyway this will be the last chapter for the ETH story. I had a great time working with it and I hoped that you enjoyed it as much as I have! Enjoy!**

Chapter Twelve

Shepard waited in the mess hall for the crew to assemble. After speaking with Anderson he had asked EDI to have all of the crew meet on the crew deck as well as plotting a course to Illium. Shepard had already spoken with Liara and asked her to arrange some transport for any of the crew who wanted to leave. Liara had agreed and had taken the liberty of forging new identities for some of the crew to help them stay low.

He wanted to make sure that his crew knew what was going to happen to him. The crew had become like a family to him, and he loathed the idea of the crew leaving. When they had all gathered, Shepard cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"As you all know by now, we will be heading to Earth for my trial. The Alliance wants me to stand trial and justify myself for destroying one of the batarian systems."

"Sometimes I wonder if there was another way. In reality there was no alternative, with the Reapers coming I had to do what needed to be done."

Shepard paused as he took the time to make eye contact with each one of his crew. These were men and women who he had fought along side with, shared meals, and occasionally played cards with. They were more than just a crew and he could only hope that he had done his best by them.

"You know what we're up against. You know how far the Reapers will go. But the Reapers aren't the only threats we face."

"Although we have severed our connections with Cerberus, I doubt it will be the last we hear from them. After our last mission though, I think they are finally making a move against us. I don't know how or why but they are working for the Reapers."

At this some of the crewmen began muttering amongst themselves. Miranda quickly quieted them down so that Shepard could continue.

"I understand that many of you have family. I wouldn't put it passed Cerberus to go after those that you care for to strike at you and by extension me. Therefore I am giving all of you a choice: You can continue to serve on this ship or you can leave to go back to your families."

"I won't begrudge you for leaving. But if you do, I've already arranged for transportation and new identities for you and your families if you so wish. As for anyone who stays, please know that I am grateful for your loyalty but I must warn you that everyone you know may be in danger. The Alliance might also want to take you in because of your association with Cerberus."

"I want everyone to take the time and think about what they want. I will be checking in with everyone before we reach Illium." Shepard finished with a sense of finality.

Most of the crew was silent as they returned to their posts. Tali, Garrus and Kasumi remained at the table. Not knowing what else to do, he decided to join them. Tali placed a hand on his and he looked up to give her a weak smile.

"So I guess this is it eh Shepard?" Garrus asked.

"Yeah. I don't like it, but it's the right thing to do." Shepard replied.

"Well you don't have to worry about me and Gary leaving, we're with you until the end." Kasumi stated as she nudged Garrus.

"Thanks guys." Shepard was relieved that both of them were willing to stay. Aside from Tali, he wasn't sure if anyone else would stay.

"Besides I can't let you and Tali have all the fun going after the Reapers. Got to have a bit of style in the mix. Not run in and shoot everything that moves." Garrus smirked.

Everybody laughed at Shepard's expense. Although he was feeling somewhat down, the banter helped lighten the mood. They continued to talk about various thing before everybody made their excuses to get back to their duties.

Tali lingered for a moment before giving Shepard a quick hug. Grinning, Shepard kept glancing over his shoulder as he headed towards the elevator. He had to stop when he walked right into the wall while Tali only shook her head with a barely audible chuckle.

* * *

><p>Shepard yawned as he leaned back in his chair. He had spent over a hour going through his messages. Many of them were trivial, he did receive a message from Tali however. Apparently she had taken the liberty of informing him that Lia, Kenneth, and Gabby were planning on staying but told him that Jack, Zaeed, and Grunt wished to speak with him.<p>

No matter how hard he tried to distract himself, he kept thinking about whether or not he made the right call. It was always the times in between missions that he found the most unsettling. On the battlefield he always had a clear target, sure it may have been difficult and life threatening but he could always handle it. It was whenever he was alone that he fought an implacable foe, speculation.

Rolling his shoulders, Shepard got up to feed his pets. He watched with mild amusement as he watched his fish dart around each other as they chased down their food. He wished Tali was in cabin at the moment but she was down in engineering. Tali always managed to take his mind off of dark thoughts, whether it was when they were feeling intimate or simply spending time together.

Not knowing what else to do, Shepard headed down to the CIC. He was surprised when he was greeted by almost all of the ops crew as he exited the elevator. Most of the crew expressed their dislike of the situation. Although they were reluctant to leave, they wanted to be with their families again. Kelly and Joker were the only ones who said they would stay.

Hoping that Mordin and Jacob would stay, Shepard made his way to the armory first. Jacob was working with a few of the weapons like usual when he noticed Shepard come in.

"Commander. Can I help you with something?" Jacob asked as he turned away from his work.

"Just checking in on everyone. Almost everybody in ops is leaving."

"Yeah I heard about that. I don't blame them."

"So have decided whether your staying or not?" Shepard asked.

"Well I was planning on staying but I think I'm going to leave."

"Oh. What made you change your mind?"

"Well Miranda is worried that Cerberus might have tipped off her father on her sister's location. She wants to leave so that she can move the family somewhere safe. I know she can handle herself but I feel the need to thank her for that promise she kept after the whole Gernsback fiasco."

"She's worried about telling the rest of us isn't she?"

"Yeah. She has her reasons though, probably doesn't want to distract anyone with her problem."

"Best of luck to the both of you then." Shepard said as the two men shook hands.

"Don't worry Shepard. No matter what happens, we'll help you out in some way. I have my eyes on the prize."

Although he was disappointed that Jacob wasn't going to be around, he hoped that he and Miranda would be alright. Shepard braced himself as he entered the lab. Mordin was busy as usual, working on one of his many simulations.

"Ah Shepard. Expected you to come. Wanted to know if I was staying correct?"

Shepard only nodded as Mordin moved a small crate of platinum aside.

"Regrettably, I will be leaving the Normandy. Must return to Sur'Kesh. STG has informed me of something vital that must be handled delicately. Vital to galatic peace and stability. Can't speak of it now. Hope you understand."

"It's gonna be different not having you around Mordin."

"Yes. Will miss being part of the crew, but very important. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve with the crew."

"No. Thank you for everything you have done for all of us."

* * *

><p>Shepard sighed as he headed down to the crew deck. So far it wasn't looking good. Everybody in the CIC was going to be leaving except for Kelly and Joker. He only hoped that he had better luck on this deck. Stepping out of the elevator he made a left and headed towards Samara's room. He almost ran into the asari as she was leaving the room. He noticed a small bundle of Samara's belongings on one of the seats.<p>

"Guess your leaving huh?" Shepard inquired.

"Yes. I regret leaving but I have fulfilled my code and must move on. But don't let this discourage you Shepard. I will return when I am needed. You only need to call for me and I shall return."

"Thank you Samara."

"No need to thank me. I am happy to have been able to help. I wish you and Tali many long and happy years together." With that Samara waited respectfully for Shepard to leave.

Shepard made a quick visit in the crew quarters to find most of the crew either resting or playing cards. The ones who were still awake told him quietly that everyone including Gardner intended to leave. Shepard only shook his head as his crew tried to apologize.

Shepard's next stop was Thane's room. The drell was currently meditating and only stopped until Shepard sat in his seat across from him.

"Shepard. I'm glad that you stopped by."

"How have you been feeling."

"It is difficult. I am finding it harder to breathe. At the moment it seems manageable but other times the pain incapacitates me."

Shepard nodded. He felt sorry for his friend. Thane had proven to be a loyal comrade and he was sad that Thane's ailment continued to grow worse despite all of Chakwas and Mordin's help.

"Hows Kolyat doing?"

"He has been working hard. Hes actually considering a position with C-Sec. I am proud of him. I only regret that I was not in his life more."

"I think you should leave to spend time with your son."

"Are you sure? I am sure he will understand that this is important to everyone. I can continue to help."

"I appreciate it Thane, but we can always manage without you. Spend time with your son. Speaking from experience, your son will want to spend as much time as he can with you."

"Thank you Shepard. I've never had a truer friend." Thane bowed his head.

Shepard checked in with Chakwas after he left the life support room. He was glad that Chakwas was staying. He was surprised to find out that Legion had left the A.I. core to head down to engineering. He wondered what Legion was doing down there in the first place.

* * *

><p>Down in engineering Tali was in the middle of consoling Lia. Legion had accidentally scared the younger quarian when she was going to head up to get something to eat. Tali knew that Legion didn't intentionally do it, but she had thought Legion would try to avoid something like this.<p>

"Does Creator Lia'Vael require assistance?" Legion inquired.

"No she's just a little shocked. You really shouldn't sneak up on people like that." Tali answered in a annoyed tone.

"We apologize. We only wished to observe."

"Well with organics its better to inform someone before observing them. Otherwise it's just seen as rude and plain creepy."

"We will remember and apply this new data in our future observations."

To be honest Tali was still uneasy with Legion around. The thought of Legion turning on them crossed her mind several times before and even now. But Shepard trusted Legion, so Tali felt that she could trust it as well.

"Alert! We have detected your mate Shepard-commander has arrived. Ninenty-nine point eight percent chance that he will enter the engineering room." Legion suddenly blared.

"Why did you tell me Shepard is here?" Tali felt herself blush. She was glad that the others couldn't see her face.

"It is under our older sub routines. The older platforms that served the Creators for domestic matters were programmed to alert the Creators of anything pertaining to their mates unless it was deemed personal. All platforms retain this information."

"Why do you keep it then if most geth avoid quarians?"

Legion was silent and for a moment Tali thought that it was hesitant in revealing more information. She shook her head and turned back to reassure Lia.

* * *

><p>Shepard waited for the doors to slide open and headed to Zaeed's room first. The mercenary was sitting on his cot staring off into space. He stood up when Shepard came into the room.<p>

"Shepard! I was just waxing goddamn nostalgic."

"One of your old missions I suppose?"

"You got me there. Right well I'm not someone who's known for speeches so I'll get to the point. I'm gonna be leaving soon as we get to Illium. Not saying I don't like it here, I had a helluva time. Reminds me of my old days when the Alliance actually had a pair."

"You helped me out with Vido. I know what I did wasn't right and that a lot of people died that day but I wanted to say that you ever need anything from me, you let me know and we'll blow something up."

"I'll keep that in mind when the Reapers shows up." Shepard chuckled.

"Gonna need one hell of a bang, but your part of the old breed in the Alliance; we know how to get things done. Glad the Alliance managed to beat that into you."

"Watch yourself out there Zaeed. Just because Vido is gone, doesn't mean someone else won't go after you."

"Well if they do their either really brave or bloody stupid. Long as it's not you I think I can manage it." Zaeed laughed.

After exiting Zaeed's room, Shepard went directly to Grunt's room. For some reason Grunt seemed confused. Seeing a confused krogan was a rare instance and Shepard didn't know what to expect.

"Something wrong Grunt?" Shepard asked. He was concerned for Grunt, Shepard was basically a father figure to Grunt.

"Battlemaster. It's not right. You blew up the Reaper. You did everything to help your people and they abandon you like a broken rifle. Why can't we just refuse them?"

"As much as I would like to refuse, I can see their reasons behind it. I was responsible for what had happen to the batarian system, that means I have to answer for it."

"Than what of me? What will happen if they take you away." Grunt replied almost in a child like manner. Shepard had to remind himself that Grunt was barely two months old since he was birthed from Okeer's pod. Grunt relied upon his guidance from time to time.

"What is it that you want to do Grunt? You always have a choice to make for yourself, you don't have to look to me to make decisions. Just choose the one you think that will best impact everybody."

"I..I want to keep fighting to honor you and my clan. If it is alright with you battlemaster, I wish to return to Tuchanka to help in uniting the clans."

"I think thats worthy cause right there. Wrex can use all the help he can get and it will be good to a have united krogan force for when the Reapers arrive."

"I'll make you proud battlemaster!" Grunt promised.

"You already have Grunt. Just remember to listen to your logic as well as your instincts."

Grunt nodded and watched Shepard leave. He would do his best to try to be as good as Shepard. He knew many great battles lay ahead of them all and he was eager to win much honor.

Shepard made a quick detour down to Jack's hidey hole. Jack was sitting on her cot with her feet propped up on a crate. She didn't say anything but merely nodded to acknowledge his presence.

"How's it going Jack?" Shepard asked in a friendly tone.

"Look Shepard, don't try to butter me up. If you want me to leave I'll leave."

"Well I kinda hope that you will. Maybe not for the same reasons that I thought of though."

Jack only raised an eyebrow as Shepard tossed her a data pad. She began reading it while Shepard waited for her finish. Her normally inscrutable face finally betrayed a sense of sadness, quickly replaced with anger.

"I found this while I was aboard the Broker's ship. I think it will be good for you to connect back to your past. Try to build something out of it."

"Fuck. Cerberus has just been screwing with me. All this time I had a family and I didn't even know it." Jack said as she bit her lip.

"I'm sure that they will want to know that you are still out there."

"I don't know. It's been a long time. I've got nothing to lose though, so why the hell not."

Shepard smiled and began to leave when he heard Jack voice her thanks in a faint voice as she stared at the data pad.

* * *

><p>At long last Shepard reached his intended destination. Kenneth and Gabby gave him a nod and pointed over to Tali and Lia. Shepard was surprised to see that Lia was sitting against the wall trying to keep away from Legion. He only heard snatches of the conversation that Legion and Tali was having. Legion nodded and move away from the quarians.<p>

"Shepard-commander. We wish to inform you that we will be returning to the main collective. We must share the data that we have gathered to achieve consensus among the geth."

"Couldn't you just link back to the collective and send the data itself?"

"The collective deemed it necessary to isolate themselves to avoid the Old Machines manipulation. We must physically return to reestablish contact."

"Well if you leave will you try to convince the geth to give Rannoch back to the quarians?"

"We will share all relevant data on the Old Machines and peace with the Creators."

"Thank you Legion."

"This platform does not require thanks. We do however appreciate it." With that Legion marched out of engineering.

As soon as the door closed Shepard asked about what happen to Lia. He listened with mild amusement and couldn't help but laugh at Legion's actions. Eventually Lia accepted their assurances and told them that she would go get something to eat before returning to her work.

Shepard watched Lia leave before motioning for Tali to come with him. The two of them moved away from Kenneth and Gabby to have some privacy. Shepard reminded himself of the conversations he and Tali shared in the core room. With a long drawn out sigh he placed his hands on either side of the console.

"What's wrong Louis?" Tali asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"This whole situation is wrong. Almost everybody is leaving. Pretty much all of the crew except for Joker, Kelly, Chakwas, Ken, and Gabby."

"That many? What about the team though?"

"It's just me, you, Garrus, and Kasumi. The ships going to be a lot quieter without everybody around." Shepard listed as he stared absently into the core as if he was hoping it would provide an answer to his dilemma.

"You shouldn't blame them for wanting to leave. With what we're facing, it's understandable they want to be with their loved ones." Tali commented as she tried to pull Shepard out of his shell.

"I don't blame them at all and I do understand. I just hoped that more would have stayed. Guess I shouldn't have hoped for so much." Shepard grunted.

"Don't say that. You know that's not true."

Shepard was silent. She wanted to comfort him but she couldn't find the right words. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him and tried her best to convey her feelings to him. Shepard seemed to loosen up a bit after the two let go of each other.

"Tali?"

"Yes, Louis?"

"After we defeat the Reapers, I want to keep a promise that someone else made to you."

"What promise is that?"

"I... I want to build a home for you on Rannoch. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"If you did that, I would be the happiest person in the galaxy."

The two of them shared another hug as they wondered what the future would bring.

* * *

><p>A few hours later the Normandy docked at the Nos Astra port on Illium. Shepard spotted a few suspicious looking salarains who regarded them with neutral expressions. They must have been Liara's operatives.<p>

Everybody assembled one last time, all their belongings already loaded on to the transports, the crew gave one last crisp salute to Shepard who returned it. The team that was leaving all nodded when he made eye contact with each one. As he watch them go, he felt like a part of him was leaving with them.

Shepard waited as he watched the last of the transports leave before returning to the Normandy. He didn't want to stay here any longer. Those that still remained were waiting for him in the CIC. With most of the crew gone, EDI was filling in wherever she was needed. The Normandy didn't stick around in the system for long, only stopping long enough to refuel before making the jump back to Sol.

When they arrived, a pair of Alliance frigates requested permission to escort the Normandy to Alliance HQ. Shepard had agreed and was informed by the captain that someone was going to be sent aboard the Normandy to speak with him.

Shepard and what was left of the crew waited for the airlock to cycle the occupants through. Of the three people who entered, Shepard only recognized two of them. The one he didn't recognize was well built and suited up as if he was expecting trouble. Shepard was glad that Anderson was there as well as he shook hands with him and the marine. It was the last person Shepard saw that made his jaw lock up into a frown.

Similar reactions could be seen from some of his crew except for Kelly, Ken and Gabby although they were aware of what had transpired. Ashley stood near the door in a new uniform, she had finally let her hair down and looked uneasy from all of the glares she was receiving.

"Is this all that's left of your crew Shepard?" Anderson inquired as he looked around the ship approvingly.

"We're all that's left. Everyone else is going to go back to their families or looking for some more closure." Shepard replied dryly.

"I'm sorry to hear that they had to go. Let me introduce you to James Vega. He will be helping you with anything you might need when we get back to HQ." Anderson indicated as James saluted.

"It's an honor commander." James stated.

"Well since your going to be on the ship until we get back to Earth, would you like anything to eat? Our cook is gone but we still have a lot of rations down in the mess."

"Thank you Shepard. Come on lieutenant." Anderson motioned for the younger marine to follow as everybody but Shepard, Tali, Garrus, and Joker led Anderson and Vega to the mess.

Ash felt as if she was in a boiler with the glares only growing in intensity. Joker who was normally good natured stared at her with a stony expression. Garrus looked liked he wanted to chasten her. Shepard had a neutral expression but his eyes betrayed him, there was a sense of hurt coupled with anger.

But it was Tali who frightened her the most. When they had served on the first Normandy, Ashley had often talked to Tali. She had found the younger women to be very kind and always hoping to help everybody. Now however it seemed as if she harbored a great anger for her. She had her arms crossed and her eyes were narrow slits.

"Shepard. About Horizon, I didn't know alright? I'm really sorry for all the things that I said and-" Ashley said as she tried to defuse the situation before getting cut off by Shepard.

"Already dealt with it Ash. Welcome back. I'll be in my cabin." Shepard stated before he left.

Ash felt a sting of defeat at these words. Although he said that it was old news, she was sure that Shepard hadn't completely forgiven her. She had thought that there might have been something between the two of them. He was never close to anyone at the time and she hoped that there was a still a chance to mend the rift between them.

When Shepard was out of earshot Ashley tried to say something again but was cut off by Garrus.

"Do you have any idea of what you did to Shepard?" Garrus growled.

"Look I didn't know. All I heard was that Shepard was working with Cerberus. What was I suppose to think." Ashley countered.

"You could have trusted him like the rest of us Ash. But I guess you couldn't figure that out." Joker joined in the attack on Ashley.

"I don't care if your back on the ship, but if you think for one second that everything is going to be just like the old days than you are sadly mistaken. Come on guys, lets go." Garrus motioned for Tali and Joker to follow.

"I'll be down in the mess in a bit. I want to speak with Williams." Tali said her voice still perfectly controlled.

Ashley immediately wished she was somewhere else. The use of her last name by someone who she thought of as a friend only enforced the fact that she was going to get chewed out.

Tali waited patiently for the others to leave, until she and Ashley were alone.

"Louis may trust you, but the rest of us aren't convinced yet."

"Look I said I was sorry, what else could I have done." Ashley said defensively. The use of the commander's first name caught her off guard though.

"We were all friends. You had the nerve to tell him that he compromised his principals to join up with Cerberus. Shepard needed people that he trusted and you turned your back on him. You think you have the right to just waltz back on the Normandy and expect nothing to happen!" Tali started out with something akin to a whisper but was quickly elevated to a barely controlled scream.

"Don't think that I haven't noticed those looks you were giving him. I'll warn you once just because we were friends; stay away from him."

"And who are you to tell me that." Ashley scoffed.

"I am his mate now."

This information hit Ashley like a brickwall.

"So you two just hug and rub up against each other. I don't see how anything can work between you two." Ashley shot back. She was sick of being made out to be the bad guy in all of this.

Before Ashley could do anything else, Tali had grabbed her uniform and pulled her close enough until only a few inches separated them.

"He's already seen me out of my suit several times now and I have already shared myself with him. We've been together for over a month. I won't let you take away the one person I could ever call mine. Stay away from him." Tali declared before letting go abruptly causing Ashley to stumble.

Ashley could only shake her head and mentally berated herself for ever doubting Shepard as she watched Tali leave. She knew that her being here would be awkward but never imagined that it would be this bad. Wrestling with her frustration, she got into the elevator and waited for it to take her to the mess. She needed to get something to eat and some decent sleep.

_'One hell of a welcome.'_ Ashley thought bitterly.

While the Normandy was escorted back to Earth. A massive force finally assembled in a unknown system. The massive Reapers waited patiently for the cycle to begin. Their plans had been foiled several times, but in the end it did not matter to them. They were mere delays, nothing more. The eye of the hurricane would soon pass and the galaxy would once again enter the tumultuous events of the cycle.

**Well there we have it folks. I tried to get as close as possible to the beginning of ME3, the lack of information of what happens to some of the characters drove me nuts. Hope that you enjoyed it. Be on the look out for more stories from me in the future. I have a couple ideas planned but some will wait after ME3 and others will just be humorous (Well they seem humorous to me, not sure about the rest of you though.)**

**Quick Author's note: I do not hate Ashley, shes a great character as are all of the ME characters but I just felt like I needed to establish how my Shepard felt like after the whole Horizon fiasco. So please don't rip my head off. Pretty please?**


End file.
